What kinds of doctrines are expounded in such a precious sūtra entitled the Lotus Sūtra? Beginning with the “Expedients” chapter in the first fascicle, the sūtra expounds that bodhisattvas, Two Vehicles (Śrāvaka and Pratyekabuddha) and ordinary people are all able to attain Buddhahood, though there is no actual proof yet. Suppose a guest visits you for the first time. He looks fine, speaks politely, and there is nothing dubious about his words, but until you confirm the truth about him, it would be difficult to believe him from merely his words. In such a case, if something important happens one after another to confirm his words, you can trust him thereafter without hesitation.

Although we believed the doctrine of attainment of Buddhahood by all living bewings because it was preached by the Buddha, it was difficult for some to fully accept it because of the lack of actual proof. However, it all became clear when the most important doctrine of becoming a Buddha with one’s present body was expounded in the “Devadatta” chapter in the fifth fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra. It is like turning black lacquer into white or purifying dirty water by putting a wish-fulfilling gem in it. The Buddha helped a small snake, who was actually a daughter of the dragon king, attain Buddhahood with her present body. From that moment, no one could have the slightest doubt about all men attaining Buddhahood. Therefore, the Lotus Sūtra expounds attainment of Buddhahood by all people after the model of enlightenment of women. Grand Master Dengyō of Mt. Hiei, who first spread the true meaning of the Lotus Sūtra in Japan, annotated in his Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sūtra, “Neither the dragon girl, who became a Buddha to preach the dharma, nor the people who heard her preach the dharma needed a roundabout way to Buddhahood. They immediately attained Buddhahood with their present bodies by the power of the Wonderful Dharma.”

Sennichi-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Reply to My Lady Nun Sennici, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Pages 146-147

The story of the attainment of enlightenment by the 8-year-old daughter of Dragon King Sagara is often held up as an example of the promise that women can become Buddhas. The fact that the Dragon King’s daughter goes through an instant metamorphosis to become an adult man before instantly becoming a Buddha disappoints those who wish to see a female human become a Buddha. The real lesson here is made manifest when she is described as “a small snake, who was actually a daughter of the dragon king.” Viewed from this perspective, the small female snake’s transformation into an adult man who becomes a Buddha is a clear message – even animals can attain Buddhahood, thus showing that all nine realms contain the door to the 10th realm, Buddhahood.

The declaration that women can become Buddhas comes in the following chapter, Encouragement for Keeping this Sūtra, when Maha-Prajapati Bhikṣunī and Yasodhara Bhikṣunī and six thousand other bhikṣunīs in the congregation are assured of their future Buddhahood.

Some of my disciples pretend to know the details of doctrines. They are mistaken. The odaimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, is the essence of the Lotus Sūtra. It is like a human being’s spirit. If any other teachings were to be added to the odaimoku, it would be the cause of great trouble. It would be like the Empress marrying two Emperors, or committing adultery. The teachings of the Lotus Sūtra did not spread far enough during the Ages of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma. This was because these periods were intended for other sūtras.

We are presently living in the Latter Age of Degeneration. The Lotus Sūtra and other sūtras are no longer efficacious in bringing about enlightenment. Only the odaimoku can accomplish this. This is not my arbitrary opinion. It was so-arranged by the Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, various Buddhas from all over the universe, and numerous great bodhisattvas from beneath the earth such as Superior Practice Bodhisattva.

It is a serious mistake to mix other teachings with the odaimoku. For example, when the sun rises, we no longer need to use lamps. When it rains, the dew is of no use. A baby does not need any nourishment except for milk. We do not need to add supplements to effective medicine.

Ueno-dono Gohenji, A Reply to Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 119

In these first 38 days, I’ve have repeatedly expressed what could be construed as doubts about relying solely on the odaimoku – Day 30, Day 24 and Day 18. Clearly this letter nixes that discussion.

Deceived by Devadatta, King Ajātaśtru became an enemy of the Buddha but his Minister Jīvaka was devoted to the Buddha and continued to have faith, the merit of which seems to have helped King Ajātaśtru. In Buddhism there is an important teaching that virtue stored within will naturally rise to the surface. Never-Despising Bodhisattva in the Lotus Sūtra bowed to passersby, saying, “I have heartfelt respect for you.” The “Lion-Roaring Bodhisattva” chapter in the Nirvana Sūtra says that all sentient beings have the Buddha-nature. It is stated in the Awakening of Faith in Mahayana by Bodhisattva Aśvaghosa, “As the wisdom of enlightenment works within, delusions are exterminated and, in turn, the Dharma body of enlightenment appears.” The same is preached in the Treatise on the Stages of Yoga Practice written by Bodhisattva Maitreya. These passages all mean that the internally hidden virtue will spontaneously rise to the surface.

Sushun Tennō Gosho, The ‘Emperor Shushun’ Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 119

This “hidden virtue” complements the “intention” discussed on Day 35.

QUESTION: Why don’t you encourage people to contemplate the three thousand existences contained in one thought, instead of only advocating the chanting of the daimoku?

ANSWER: The two characters in the name Japan bring together all 66 provinces, with all their people, animals, and wealth without a single exception. Likewise, don’t the two characters for India bring together all 70 of its countries? Miao-lê says, “As a summation of the whole sūtra the entirety of the Lotus Sūtra is included in the daimoku.” He also says, “By way of summary the ten realms or ten aspects are used to indicate the entirety of the 3,000 existences.” Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī and the Venerable Ānanda used the daimoku of Myōhō Renge Kyō to indicate the entirety of the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra in three assemblies over the period of the last eight years of the Buddha’s teaching; and to indicate that this is what they meant the sutra begins with the words “Thus have I heard.”

QUESTION: If someone chanted Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō without understanding its meaning will the benefit of understanding still be received?

ANSWER: When a baby nurses, it does not comprehend the taste; nevertheless, it receives the benefits of the milk naturally. Did anyone know the ingredients or extinguish fire; and even though fire consumes many things, can we say it does this deliberately? This is Nāgārjuna and T’ien-t’ai’s idea! I am merely repeating it.

Shishin Gohon-shō, The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Pages 106-107

This letter was written in response to questions about how to develop one’s faith, how to practice one’s faith, and how to understand the daimoku and teachings of the Lotus Sūtra. Nichiren’s answers nicely explain the role of the first moment of faith and the practice of chanting daimoku. I’ll resist the temptation to post the entire letter.

When we worship gods or Buddhas, we begin with the phrase of “namu.” Namu is an Indian word that has come to mean “offering of life to Buddhas and gods” in China and Japan. Our social standing is determined in part by possessing a spouse and children, retainers, fiefs, and gold and silver, though some people do not have these. Regardless of whether we possess these or not, no one possesses treasure more precious than life. Accordingly, sages and wise men in the past have donated their lives to the Buddhas in order to attain Buddhahood.

That is to say, Young Ascetic in the Snow Mountains offered his own body to a demon in order to learn a holy teaching consisting of eight Chinese characters. Medicine King Bodhisattva burned his own elbow and offered it to the Lotus Sūtra as a light. In Japan, Prince Shōtoku peeled the skin of his own hand to write the Lotus Sūtra on it, and Emperor Tenchi burned his third finger as an offering to Śākyamuni Buddha. These are deeds of sages and wise men, which are impossible for us ordinary people to emulate.

Nevertheless, ordinary people can become Buddhas by fully understanding the meaning of the word of “kokorozashi (intention)” and practicing it. What is the intention? When we consider this in detail, it refers to the doctrine of spiritual contemplation. What does the doctrine of spiritual contemplation mean? It means the way of practicing the teaching of the Buddha according to the intent of the Buddha, not necessarily according to what is literally said in the sutra. For example, if a man donates his only set of clothes, which he wears for the cause of the Lotus Sūtra, this is the same as peeling his own skin for the sake of the Dharma. Suppose there is a man during the time of a famine who offers to the Buddha the only food he has to stay alive for a day. This is the same as offering his life to the Buddha.

These offerings are as meritorious as the offering of an elbow by Medicine King Bodhisattva or the offering by Young Ascetic in the Snow Mountains of his own body to a demon. Therefore, we can say that the self-sacrificial offerings of sages are phenomenal whereas the offerings of ordinary people according to the intent of the Buddha are noumenal. The doctrine of offering, one of the six practices for bodhisattvas to attain enlightenment, preached in the Great Concentration and Insight, part seven, refers to this noumenal offering, i.e. the practice of offering according to the intent of the Buddha.

Jiri Kyuō Gosho, Phenomenal Offering and Noumenal Offering, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 98

Intention is something I find vital in all things. I see this Intention reflected in the Lotus Sūtra in the latter half of Chapter 2, Expedients:

Those who, after the extinction of a Buddha,
Were good and gentle,
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who, after the extinction of a Buddha,
Erected billions of stupas,
And who purely and extensively adorned [those stupas]
With treasures
Such as gold, silver, crystal,
Shell, agate, ruby, and lapis lazuli,
And who offered those adornments to his śarīras;
Or those who made the mausoleum [of the Buddha]
With stone, bricks, or clay,
Or with many kinds of wood,
Such as candana, aloes, or agalloch;
Or those who made the mausoleum of the Buddha
With heaps of earth
In the wilderness;
Or the boys who made the stupa of the Buddha
With heaps of sand by playing,
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who carved an image of the Buddha
With the [proper] physical marks in his honor
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who made an image of the Buddha
With the seven treasures;
Or those who made it
Of copper, copper-gold alloy, nickel,
Pewter lead, tin, iron, wood, or clay;
Or those who made it in plaster work,
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who drew or caused others to draw in color
A picture of the Buddha adorned with his physical marks,
Each mark representing one hundred merits,
Have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha.

The boys who by playing drew
A picture of the Buddha
With a piece of grass or wood,
Or with a brush,
Or with the back of their fingernails,
Became able to accumulate merits one by one.
Having great compassion towards others,
They attained the enlightenment of the Buddha,
Taught only Bodhisattvas,
And saved many living beings.

Those who respectfully offered
Flowers, incense, streamers, and canopies
Enshrined in a stupa-mausoleum;
Or those who caused men to make music
By beating drums, by blowing horns and conches,
And by playing reed-pipes, flutes, lyres, harps,
Lutes, gongs, and copper cymbals,
And offered the wonderful sounds produced thereby
To the image or picture of the Buddha;
Or those who sang joyfully in praise of him for his virtues;
Or those who just murmured [in praise of him],
Have already attained
The enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who, without concentrating their minds,
Offered nothing but a flower to the picture of the Buddha,
Became able to see
Innumerable Buddhas one after another.

Those who bowed to the image of the Buddha,
Or just joined their hands together towards it,
Or raised only one hand towards it,
Or bent their head a little towards it
And offered the bending to it,
Became able to see innumerable Buddhas one after another.
They attained unsurpassed enlightenment,
Saved countless living beings,
And entered into the Nirvana-without-remainder
Just as fire dies out when wood is gone.

Those who entered a stupa-mausoleum
And said only once “Namo Buddhaya,”
Without even concentrating their minds,
Have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha.

Those who heard the Dharma
In the lifetime of a past Buddha
Or after his extinction
Have already attained the enlightenment of the Buddha.

By definition, a Noumenal Offering is “[an offering] as it is in itself, as distinct from [an offering] as it is knowable by the senses through phenomenal attributes.” Or, in other words, the Intention.

See also Small Good Deeds from the Introduction to the Lotus Sutra.

Life is fleeting! No matter how many powerful enemies join forces against you, do not retreat and never be afraid. Even if your head is sawed off, your torso pierced through with a spear, and your feet shackled and drilled with a gimlet, you should continue chanting “Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō” as long as you have life. If you die chanting it, Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, and Buddhas in manifestation throughout the universe will immediately come flying, lead you by the hand or carry you on their shoulders to Mt. Sacred Eagle as they had promised at the assembly on Mt. Sacred Eagle. At that moment, two sages (Bodhisattvas Medicine King and Brave Donor), two heavenly kings (World Holding and Vaiśravaṇa), and ten female rākṣasa demons will protect you, upholders of the Lotus Sūtra, and various gods and deities will hold up a canopy over your head, wave banners, guard you, and certainly will send you to the Jeweled Land of Tranquil Light. Is not this the utmost happiness?

Nyosetsu Shugydō-shō, True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Pages 87-88

These are the assurances that hold special meaning for me, promises of compassion on the other shore.

[T]he two Buddhas, Śākyamuni and Many Treasures, are functions of the substance, that is the five characters of myō, hō, renge, and kyō. In other words, the Lotus Sūtra is the Original Buddha. “The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra mentions the Buddha’s “hidden core and divine powers.” The hidden core of the World Honored One refers to the substance of the Original Buddha possessing the threefold body (Dharma Body, Reward Body, and Accommodative Body). The divine powers mean the three bodies of manifested Buddhas as functions of the Original Buddha (substance). Also, we unenlightened people can fundamentally be the Original Buddha with three bodies of the substance, and the Buddha’s three bodies are functions and manifestations of the Original Buddha. If this is true, although we believed that Śākyamuni Buddha provided the three virtues of master, teacher and parent to us, instead it was we unenlightened people who provide three virtues to the Buddha. The reason why we say this is based on T’ien-t’ai’s interpretation in the ninth fascicle of the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra that, “The Tathagata (Thus-come One) is a common term for all Buddhas in ten directions in the past, present, and future, two Buddhas (True Body and Accommodative Body), three Buddhas (Dharma Body, Reward Body, and Accommodative Body), the Original Buddha and Buddhas in manifestation.” In this annotation, the Original Buddha refers to unenlightened people and Buddhas in manifestation mean Buddhas. However, there is a difference between unenlightened people and enlightened Buddhas, and those people are unaware that both people and Buddhas originally possess the same threefold bodies either as substance or function.

T’ien’tai, therefore, makes clear that all things and phenomena in the ten realms are manifestations of the ultimate reality. Since ultimate reality is another name of the Lotus Sūtra, what he states is that all things and phenomena are equal to the Lotus Sūtra. It is a reality of a hell showing hell’s appearance. If its appearance turns into that of the realm of hungry spirits, it is no longer a hell. “All phenomena as ultimate reality” means that Buddhas show Buddhas’ appearance, unenlightened people show their appearance, and the true appearance of all things is the truth of the Lotus Sūtra.

Shohō Jissō-shō, Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 76

Two things I consider of note here:

• [A]lthough we believed that Śākyamuni Buddha provided the three virtues of master, teacher and parent to us, instead it was we unenlightened people who provide three virtues to the Buddha.
• It is a reality of a hell showing hell’s appearance. If its appearance turns into that of the realm of hungry spirits, it is no longer a hell. “All phenomena as ultimate reality” means that Buddhas show Buddhas’ appearance, unenlightened people show their appearance, and the true appearance of all things is the truth of the Lotus Sūtra.

And in pondering this I chant Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.

It has been 2,200 years or so since the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sūtra. As the life span of human beings is short, there is no one still alive who was able to see the Buddha in person. The length of a day as well as the life span in the realm of heavenly beings, however, are so long that there exist numerous heavenly beings who listened to the Buddha preach the Lotus Sūtra. Fifty years for human beings is equivalent to one day and night for the Four Heavenly Kings. Passing the day and night in this way, with 30 days in a month and 12 months to a year they live altogether 500 years. Accordingly 2,200 years or so in the human realm is equivalent to 44 days of the Four Heavenly Kings, and it has been only 44 days since the sun and moon and Vaiśravaṇa (Bishamon, one of the Four Heavenly Kings) saw the Buddha enter Nirvana. In other words it has not been two months yet since the Buddha passed away. To such heavenly beings as Indra and the King of the Brahma Heaven it has been a month or so since the Buddha passed into Nirvana. How can they forget all about the vow they made before the Buddha, the great favor of the sūtra in which they attained Buddhahood, and abandon the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra in such a short span? When we think of things in this way, we are sure we can depend on these heavenly beings.

Accordingly, the prayer said by the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra will inevitably be fulfilled just as a sound is echoed, a shadow follows the body, the moon reflects upon the clear water, a water nymph invites the water, a magnet attracts iron, amber eliminates dust, and a clear mirror reflects the color of everything.

Kitō-shō, Treatise on Prayers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 50

Personally I’m fascinated by this idea that a day in the life of a god is the equivalent of 50 years of a human being. (See Day 20 of 100) We are so focused on ourselves that we miss the wonder. Just imagine: It is less than two months since 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.”

Although Śubh̄karasimha was such a splendid person, he once experienced a sudden death. Upon regaining consciousness, however, he is said to have declared:

Upon my death, a hell guard came to tie me with seven iron ropes, hit me hard with an iron stick, and dragged me to the palace of King Yama. Somehow I completely forgot all Buddhist scriptures said to be 80,000 in number, not remembering even one word or a phrase except the title of the Lotus Sūtra. When I recalled it, the iron ropes that tied me got loose somewhat. Breathing a sigh of relief, I recited a passage in the “Expedients” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra resoundingly: “This triple world is all My domain, in which all the living beings are my children without exception. Although there exist many sufferings and difficulties in this world, only I, the Buddha, alone can save and protect all living beings.” Then the seven iron ropes were broken into pieces and scattered all over. Seeing this scene, King Yama took off his crown, came down to the courtyard, and said to me, “This experience of death has not exhausted your entire life span.” Thus he sent me back to this world.

Zemmui-shō, Treatise on Śubh̄karasimha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 50

For me, what’s fascinating about this is not that reciting verses from the Lotus Sūtra can break the steel ropes of hell, but that this event occurred to one of the three patriarchs of the Chinese Chen-yen (Shingon) School.

As Nichiren writes later in this letter:

Shingon Buddhism claims that one ritual sign with the fingers and one mantra word uttered by the mouth will extinguish the immeasurable sins committed in the past and present. Nevertheless, for what sin was this master tortured by King Yama? This is indeed inexplicable. If Tripitaka Master Śubh̄karasimha with his mastery of Shingon Buddhism cannot escape the torture of King Yama, how can Shingon masters of India, China and Japan escape from the sufferings of hell?

Such are the perils of slandering the Lotus Sūtra.

[T]he Lotus Sūtra is likened to the sun. The moon appearing at night with twinkling stars cannot put out the starlight although the moonlight is stronger. During the day, on the contrary, sunlight extinguishes not only starlight but also moonlight. Likewise, pre-Lotus sūtras are like the stars and the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra is like the moon whereas the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra is like the sun. Seen from the standpoint of the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter, even the theoretical section is like the moon, which is not comparable to the sun, not to speak of other sūtras. People cannot work at night with either starlight or moonlight. When day breaks and the sun rises, people begin to work. Likewise, in the pre-Lotus sūtras and in the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra, as at night, nobody can cut the chain of life and death to attain enlightenment no matter how hard one tries. On the contrary, in the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter in the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra, like the sun rising at daybreak, everyone necessarily gets rid of the chain of life and death to attain enlightenment.

Yakuō-bon Tokui-shō, The Essence of the ‘Medicine King Bodhisattva’ Chapter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 32

Using the comparative luminosity of the stars and the moon and the sun works very well in this modern age to show the relationship between the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter (the heart of the essential section) and both the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra and the pre-Lotus sūtras. But not all of Nichiren’s imagery and Japanese folk wisdom travels well from the 13 Century to the 21st.

In the letter Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Nichiren poses a question very much like what I’ve asked here and here:

QUESTION: You cannot burn anything by simply uttering the word, “fire” repeatedly. Indeed you have to use your hand in order to burn something. You cannot quench your thirst by just saying “water.” You need to use your mouth for drinking water. The same is true with the daimoku. I doubt it is possible to escape from the evil realms through the mere chanting of the daimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. Isn’t it necessary to understand what the daimoku means and what it entails?

(Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 36)

I actually do believe that “it is possible to escape from the evil realms through the mere chanting of the daimoku,” but Nichiren’s response simply doesn’t age well:

ANSWER: When the sinew of a lion is used as a string for a koto, the sound is so powerful that all the strings made from other threads will snap. And when hearing of the sourness of a pickled plum, saliva fills the mouth without eating it. Such mysterious things happen even in worldly affairs. How then can it be denied that something wonderful happens with the Lotus Sūtra? Even a parrot is said to have been reborn in the realm of heavenly beings just by repeating the name of the Four Noble Truths of the Hinayana teaching. Moreover, a man who dedicated himself to the Three Treasures—the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṃgha—was able to escape the attack of a monster fish in the ocean. Imagine the wonders that would occur with the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, the essence of all the 80,000 teachings, and the eye of all the Buddhas. Do you still hold the belief that you cannot escape the four kinds of evil realms by just chanting the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra?

Later in the same letter (Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 37-38), Nichiren writes:

When one enters the water carrying a rhinoceros horn, the water will be kept away by 5 feet. When a leaf of sandalwood opens, the bad odor of eraṇḍa will disappear as far as 40 yojana (distance covered by a traveling man in 40 days). The evil karma of ordinary people is like the water and the eraṇḍa and the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra is like the rhinoceros horn and leaf of sandalwood. A diamond is so hard that nothing can break it except the horn of a sheep and the shell of a tortoise. Large birds cannot snap the branch of a large tree called nyagrodha though the wren, a small bird said to nest on the eyelashes of mosquitoes, can. The evil karma of ordinary people like us, is as hard as a diamond and as big as nyagrodha. The daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, on the contrary, can easily break and snap the karma of ordinary people, like the horn of a sheep and the beak of a wren. As an amber jewel removes dust and a magnet attracts iron, so are our dust and iron of evil karma removed by amber and the magnet of the daimoku. You should always think this way and continuously chant Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.

Using horns of endangered animals in order to wade through water is too far removed from modern sensibilities, but the amber jewel and magnet imagery fit nicely in my understanding of why I chant Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō