Category Archives: WONS

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‘One and Two-Halves Chapters’ of the Lotus Sūtra

There is another triple division culminating in the essential section. Innumerable sūtras beginning with the Lotus Sūtra expounded during the time of the ancient Great Universal Wisdom Buddha, those preached by Śākyamuni Buddha during fifty some years of His lifetime—including the Flower Garland Sūtra, fourteen chapters of the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra, and the Nirvana Sūtra—as well as those preached by Buddhas in all the worlds in the universe in the past, at present, and in the future are the preface to the great dharma of five characters hidden in the lines of the sixteenth chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, “The Life Span of the Buddha.”

Compared to the “one and two-halves chapters” of the Lotus Sūtra (the sixteenth chapter, the second half of the preceding chapter and the first half of the following chapter) which comprises the main discourse according to this division, all other sūtras may be called Hinayāna teachings, false teachings, teachings that do not lead to Buddhahood, or teachings in which the truth is not revealed. Those who listen to these “expedient” teachings have little virtue and much illusion; they are immature in thinking, poor in heart, and solitary; like birds and beasts, they do not know the existence of the Eternal Buddha, who is their father.

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 152

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The Seriousness of Your Faith

People in Japan have rejected my proposal to save the country from destruction although I have committed no sin. Moreover, they struck me in the face with the fifth fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra, in which it is preached that a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra will be persecuted with swords, sticks, and pieces of bricks and stones. This was witnessed by the King of the Brahma Heaven and Indra. Great Hachiman Bodhisattva of Kamakura also observed the incident.

In any event, I feel hopeless in this decadent world today and have entered deep in this mountain. I feel truly sorry for my followers, but I am powerless to help you though I am praying to the Lotus Sūtra day and night. Please be resolved in your strong faith and pray with all your might. If your prayer is not answered, it is not due to the power of my prayer. It depends on the seriousness of your faith.

Nanjō-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Nanjō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 21

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The Secret Dharma

The secret dharma (five characters of Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō), the essence of the Lotus Sūtra, that such great sages as Kāśyapa, Ānanda, Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu of the Age of the True Dharma and Grand Masters T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō of the Age of the Semblance Dharma knew in mind but did not yet propagate outwardly, is clearly stated in the Lotus Sūtra. It is also clear, however, that this secret dharma is not explained at all in any commentary or annotation. Sages with an inborn capacity of perception should know the dharma by looking at the sūtra themselves. Wise persons should meet virtuous teachers, receive the dharma and believe it. Those with serious sins will distrust and hold in contempt such teachers and will not believe the dharma, but if they wish to listen to it even for a moment, I am willing to tell you about it.

Soya Nyūdō-dono-gari Gosho, A Letter to Lay Priest Lord Soya, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 169.

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Despising the Messenger of the Buddha

Observing the present state of Japan reflected upon the clear mirror of the Lotus Sūtra and Nirvana Sūtra, it is plain to see who is revered by rulers of Japan as an arhat with six superhuman powers, and who made false charges against the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in an attempt to behead him. Who is the person revered like a great bodhisattva by a number of people? What wise man, who devotes himself to propagating the True Dharma, has often been banished from his dwelling, has been wounded in the head, has suffered from his disciples being killed, has been exiled twice, and was nearly beheaded in the end? Those who are blind or deaf can be pardoned, but those who have eyes and ears had better read and listen to the sūtras. Everybody today claims: “I have read the sūtras or believe in them,” but such people just hate Nichiren without trying to understand what is preached in the sūtras. If such people truly believed in them, they would think about who the three kinds of resentful enemies are. Instead, they hate Nichiren, who reads and recites the sūtras and puts into practice what the sūtras preach. Doesn’t this mean they hate sūtras and despise the messenger of the Buddha?

Shimoyama Goshōsoku, The Shimoyama Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 77,/strong>

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Adhering to the True Intent of Śākyamuni Buddha

Compared to this Eternal Buddha and His teaching preached in the essential section, those preached in the theoretical section, the pre-Lotus sūtras, the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning, and the Nirvana Sūtra, namely, all the sūtras preached prior to, at the same time as, and after the Lotus Sūtra, are easy to believe in and understand. It is because they are provisional teachings adjusted to meet the faith and comprehension of the unenlightened while what is preached in the essential section transcends them all and is difficult to believe in and comprehend because it adheres to the true intent of Śākyamuni Buddha.

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 152

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Great Events and Great Omens

Because it is lamentable to see the possibility of our land and ourselves destroyed, I have determined to point this out even at the cost of my life. If the ruler of the land wishes to maintain peace, he should have begun to wonder and investigate what I have said. Believing in only the words of slanderers, on the contrary, he is persecuting me, Nichiren. The King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun, the moon, the Four Heavenly Kings, and the terrestrial gods, whose duty it is to protect the Lotus Sūtra, regarded slanderers of the True Dharma as outrageous in the past. However, when nobody pointed out such slanderers, these deities sometimes ignored them just as parents overlook the mischief of their sole child, although at other times they punished him with as little as a warning. Today, however, the ruler not only appoints slanderers of the True Dharma to official positions but also persecutes the man who happened to remonstrate him, not just for one or two days, one or two months, and one or two years, but for many years. Nichiren has been persecuted more severely than Never-Despising Bodhisattva, who was beaten with sticks and pieces of wood, and Monk Virtue Consciousness, who was about to be murdered, upholding the True Dharma in the past. Therefore, the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun, the moon, the Four Heavenly Kings, the stars, and the terrestrial gods all are angry with the ruler and warn him often by sending strange phenomena in the sky and natural calamities on earth. Since he does not perceive their warnings and only intensifies the persecution of the man who remonstrates, they order the sagacious ruler of a neighboring land to chastise the ruler of Japan and send demons into his land to deceive the people and cause internal disruption.

Great events, regardless if they are good or bad, are foreshadowed by great omens. We saw the largest comet we have ever seen in 2,230 years or so since the death of the Buddha and experienced the severest earthquake we have ever had in history. They foretell the destruction of Japan, at the same time they are omens of the appearance of the true practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in Japan. There have been many sages endowed with wisdom and talent in China and Japan, but none has ever believed in the Lotus Sūtra as firmly as I, Nichiren, nor has anyone had as many strong enemies in the land as I do. From these facts, you should recognize Nichiren to be the prime practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in the world.

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 236-237

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The Five Periods of Śākyamuni Buddha’s Preaching

Śākyamuni Buddha’s lifetime preaching can be divided into five periods. The first is called the Flower Garland period, when the Buddha expounded the Flower Garland Sūtra for two or three weeks on the Diamond-seat under the Bodhi Tree for bodhisattvas in the Dharma Body during the eight meetings at seven places. The Flower Garland Sūtra is a provisional Mahāyāna teaching compared to the Lotus Sūtra, however, it is the distinct teaching (teaching for bodhisattvas) as well as the perfect teaching. The conclusion of this sūtra is in the Brahma-net Sūtra, which expounds the Mahāyāna precepts for bodhisattvas. …

The second of the five periods is the Āgama (or Deer Park) period, when for 12 years Śākyamuni Buddha preached the Hinayāna Āgama sūtras in the Deer Park in Bārāpasī and various other places in 16 great states. The Āgama sūtras roughly consists of four groups: Long Āgama Sūtras; Middle Length Āgama Sūtras; Increasing-by-One Āgama Sūtras; and Miscellaneous Āgama Sūtras. These sūtras preach such doctrines as the “four noble truths” (the truth of suffering, the truth regarding the cause of sufferings, the truth regarding the extinction of suffering, and the truth regarding the path to Nirvana) and the “eightfold holy path” (right views, thoughts, speech, acts, living, effort, mindfulness, and meditation), which preach for men of the Two Vehicles (śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha) that all things and phenomena are transient and void. The concluding sūtra is the Sūtra of Legacy Teachings preached just before Śākyamuni Buddha’s death as His final instruction to His disciples. This is known as the Hinayāna precepts. …

The third of the five periods is the Hōdō period, when Śākyamuni Buddha preached a variety of Mahāyāna sutras. This period of preaching is said to have lasted eight years, sixteen years, or an indeterminate amount of years. The sūtras preached in this period include the Revealing the Profound and Secret Sūtra, the Necklace Sūtra, the Entering Laṅkā Sūtra, the Great Sun Buddha Sūtra, the Diamond Peak Sūtra, the Sūtra on the Act of Perfection, the Sūtra of the Buddha of Infinite Life, the Sūtra of Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life, and the Amitābha Sūtra. …

The fourth of the five periods is the Hannya (Wisdom) period, when Śākyamuni Buddha preached the doctrine of void for 14 or 22 years. The Hannya sūtras include such as the Kōsan hannya, Kongō hannya, Tennōmon hannya, Maka hannya, Daibon hannya, Ninnō hannya, etc. The last mentioned is considered the conclusion of the Hannya sūtras. …

The last of the five periods is the Lotus-Nirvana period, when the two sūtras of Lotus and Nirvana were preached. Of the two, the Lotus Sūtra is the principal text while the Nirvana Sūtra is like a gleaning after the harvest in autumn. Established on the basis of the Lotus Sūtra is the Tendai (T’ien-t’ai) School, which is also known by various designations such as the Lotus School, School Established by the Buddha, School Depended-on by Various Other Schools, Secret School, and Exoteric School of Illumination.

The Sūtra of Meditation on the Buddha of Universal Sage Bodhisattva, the conclusion of the Lotus Sūtra, provided the spiritual foundation for the establishment of the Mahāyāna Perfect and Sudden Precept Dais on Mt. Hiei.

Ichidai Goji Keizu, Genealogical Chart of the Buddha’s Lifetime Teachings in Five Periods, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 238-243

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Five Comparisons Revealing the Highest Teaching

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In Nichiren Buddhism it is understood that in the Kaimoku-shō Nichiren made five comparisons between various religious teachings in order to reveal the highest teaching. Nichiren himself does not ever use the term “five comparisons” and the fifth comparison is not as clear in Kaimoku-shō as it is in other writings. Nevertheless, Kaimoku-shō is regarded as the source of the five comparisons. …

1. Buddhism is Superior to Non-Buddhism
Of all the non-Buddhist teachers Nichiren says, “Although they are called sages, they are as ignorant as infants in that they do not know causality.” This is essentially the same critique the Buddha makes of the sixty-two false views in the Supreme Net Discourse. None of the sixty-two views takes into account the causal and interdependent nature of life. They tend to assert either a form of eternalism, wherein all or at least some beings enjoy an eternal unchanging existence, or they assert some form of annihilationism, wherein phenomena disappear without a trace, or they try to equivocate in some way. …
2. Mahāyāna is Superior to Hinayāna
Just as Buddhism is superior to non-Buddhism because it takes a greater perspective that goes beyond one lifetime or even many lifetimes to reveal the causal processes underlying even the births and deaths of the gods in the heavenly realms, Mahāyāna is superior to Hinayāna because its perspective is vast enough to see that beyond the limited goal of nirvāṇa as an escape from the cycle of birth and death it is possible for people to raise their aspirations by taking the vows of a bodhisattva and thence embarking on the path to attain buddhahood, even if it takes an incalculably long time to do so.

Another difference in perspective is that whereas the Hinayāna only teaches that there are six worlds of rebirth (realms of hell-dwellers, hungry ghosts, animals, fighting demons, humans, and gods) and nothing more besides the negation of rebirth in the six worlds known as nirvāṇa, Mahāyāna teaches that in fact there are many pure lands throughout the universe. The pure lands are realms where all the conditions are perfect for attaining buddhahood and each is presided over by its own buddha who is assisted by many bodhisattvas. With the help of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, sentient beings can be reborn in these pure lands in order to attain buddhahood. Nichiren says that the Mahāyāna:

… were expounded for criticizing adherents of the two vehicles who relied on the Hinayāna sūtras. In these Mahāyāna sūtras, the Pure Lands of the Buddhas were established in the worlds of the ten quarters in order to encourage ordinary men and bodhisattvas to be born there. This troubled adherents of the two vehicles.…

3. True Mahāyāna of the Lotus Sūtra is Superior to Provisional Mahāyāna
In the Lotus Sūtra … the Buddha reveals that the three vehicles he taught to the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas are actually just partial aspects of the One Vehicle that leads all alike to buddhahood. The Buddha even makes a series of predictions that in future ages his major disciples and all the other members of the assembly will attain buddhahood. If it were not for the Lotus Sūtra then the major disciples who had become arhats would have no hope of attaining buddhahood. “But if the earlier sutras are more attractive [and more valuable], Śāriputra and other adherents of the two vehicles would have lost a chance to become Buddhas forever.” The other sūtras are considered provisional because they do not reveal this larger perspective that grants buddhahood even to śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas and so they are not fully inclusive of all beings. The Lotus Sūtra alone should be considered the true Mahāyāna because it makes it clear that all beings can attain buddhahood without exception. This is the reason why the Lotus Sūtra is superior to the other Mahāyāna sūtras. …
4. The Original Gate is superior to the Trace Gate
The Trace Gate consists of the first fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sūtra in which the Buddha is still seen as the historical Śākyamuni Buddha who attained awakening two thousand five hundred years ago. It is called the Trace Gate because it covers the teaching of the One Vehicle by the historical Buddha as described above, and these teachings are the traces or imprints of the teaching of the Eternal Śākyamuni Buddha. The historical life of the Buddha and his teachings is like a print made in soft wax by a seal, or like traces left in the sand by a person walking on the beach. The Trace Gate is also referred to as the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra because it is in this part of the sūtra that the Buddha teaches that in theory all people are capable of attaining buddhahood.

The Original Gate consists of the latter fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sūtra in which the Buddha is the timeless ultimate truth and an ever-present reality leading all people to their own buddhahood. The Original Gate is also referred to as the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra because it is in this part of the sūtra that the Buddha reveals the transcendent nature of buddhahood and that it is an active and present part of our lives already, we only need the faith to realize it. From this point on, buddhahood is no longer a theory, but the essential truth informing all the other teachings.

The Original Gate, therefore, surpasses the more limited view of the Trace Gate that Śākyamuni Buddha attained awakening for the first time at the age of thirty (or thirty-five according to other sources) under the Bodhi Tree forty years before the time when he taught the Lotus Sūtra. From the perspective taken in the Original Gate, Śākyamuni Buddha’s awakening occurred in a past time so remote that it is often just glossed as “eternal.” Nichiren says,

“In the Original Gate of the Lotus Sūtra, it was revealed that the Buddha had attained perfect enlightenment in the remote past, making it untenable to assert that he had attained Buddhahood for the first time in this world. “

This is important because it means that even when the Buddha was demonstrating bodhisattva conduct in previous lives he was actually not trying to attain buddhahood but was demonstrating it in a progressively more complete way until he revealed the fullness of buddhahood as Śākyamuni Buddha in India 2,500 years ago. This means that buddhahood was always present and even after the passing away of the historical Buddha, Śākyamuni Buddha as the Eternal Buddha will remain present. …

5. Buddhism of Sowing Superior to Harvest — Introspection over Doctrine
There is one final comparison that Nichiren makes in his teachings, though it is not set forth as clearly in Kaimoku-shō as it is in other writings. This is the comparison between the essential teaching of the Lotus Sūtra as a discourse given by Śākyamuni Buddha 2,500 years ago in India and the essential teaching of the Lotus Sūtra as spiritual contemplation for those in the present.

Nichiren identifies the spiritual contemplation of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sūtra with the Tiantai teaching of the “three thousand realms in a single thought-moment” … . According to Nichiren, ‘The ‘three thousand realms in a single thought-moment’ doctrine is hidden between the lines of the sixteenth chapter on The Life Span of the Tathāgata’ in the Original Gate of the Lotus Sūtra.” Nichiren identifies the three thousand realms in a single thought-moment doctrine as the seed of buddhahood. “Based on the concept of the seed of buddhahood preached in the Lotus Sūtra, Bodhisattva Vasubandhu insisted on the ‘supremacy of the seed’ in his Discourse on the Lotus Sūtra. This later became the ‘three thousand realms in a single thought-moment’ doctrine of Grand Master Tiantai.”…

The conclusion of the five comparisons is that Lotus Sūtra is the teaching that truly encompasses all time, from the remotest past, to the farthest future. In this perspective all beings are able to attain buddhahood in the fullness of time. More importantly, the perspective of the Lotus Sūtra provides assurance that buddhahood is a present actuality for all beings. Nichiren makes this point clear in A Letter to the People of Seichōji Temple (Seichōji Daishū-chū), a letter he wrote to Seichōji Temple in 1276:

The Lotus Sūtra preaches that Śākyamuni Buddha had attained buddhahood already 500 (million) dust particle kalpa in the past and that even those of the two vehicles such as Śāriputra, who are considered incapable of becoming buddhas, will inevitably attain buddhahood in the future. … It is the Lotus Sūtra that explains the past and future with precision, and upholding this sutra is the way to attain buddhahood.

Open Your Eyes, p23-30
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Failing to Achieve the True Purpose of the Buddha Dharma

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Nichiren criticizes those who follow the two vehicles of the Śrāvakas (lit. “voice hearers” who are the Hinayāna disciples of the Buddha) and the pratyekabuddhas (lit. “privately awakened ones” who contemplate dependent origination on their own) because these kinds of Buddhists attain liberation from the sufferings of this world of birth and death, but are unable to help anyone else, including their parents. Because of this, they fail to achieve the true purpose of the Buddha Dharma. Speaking of these Hinayāna disciples, Nichiren says:

The purpose of becoming a monk by renouncing one’s family is to save one’s parents. Adherents of the two vehicles think that they can emancipate themselves from suffering. It may be true, but it is very difficult for them to benefit others. They may benefit others to some extent, but they will send their parents to the world where their parents can never become Buddhas. Therefore, I say that they do not know the favors of their parents. (Murano, p. 21. See also Hori 2002, pp. 39-40, and Gosho Translation Committee 1999, p. 228)

Nichiren’s conclusion is that only the Lotus Sūtra has the power to enable our parents to attain buddhahood. Other Buddhist teachings and sūtras may state that in principle all beings can attain buddhahood, but only in the Lotus Sūtra is the buddhahood of all men and women guaranteed and even demonstrated.

Open Your Eyes, p12
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Each Character of Lotus Sūtra Is a Living Buddha

Each character of the Lotus Sūtra is a living Buddha but seen through the “naked eye” of a common person, it looks like nothing but a character. For instance, the Ganges River looks like fire to the hungry ghosts, water to human beings, and “nectar” to the heavenly beings. The same water appears to be different to those who live under different circumstances. These characters of the Lotus Sūtra cannot be seen at all by the blind, but they appear as black letters to the “naked-eye” of ordinary people, the sky to the “wisdom-eye” of the Two Vehicles, various doctrines to the “dharma-eye” of the bodhisattvas, and the Buddhas to the “Buddha-eye” of those in whom the seed of Buddha is ripe. Therefore, it is preached in the “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, “He who upholds this sūtra sustains the Buddha,” and Grand Master T’ien-t’ai states in his “Ryaku Hokekyō,” “I believe in the Lotus Sūtra, consisting of eight fascicles, 28 chapters, namely 69,384 Chinese characters. Each of these characters is itself the true Buddha, who preaches the dharma for the benefit of people who listen.”

Hōren-shō, Letter to Hōren, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 56-57