Letter to the Lay Priest Ichinosawa

Chapter3(Explaining the fallacy that various schools were being propagated)

In our present day, the Lotus Sutra is of course supreme, as it was in the past. And yet, because the way of practicing it differs from age to age, in this era, even if one were to retire to the mountain forests and read and recite it, or live in the villages and expound its doctrines, or observe all the various precepts, or even burn one’s arms as an offering, that person would nevertheless fail to attain Buddhahood.

It would seem as though the teachings of Buddhism are now flourishing in Japan. And yet there is something strange about these teachings, though people are unaware of it. They are like insects that unwittingly fly into a flame, or birds that enter the mouth of a serpent.

The teachers of the True Word school and the adherents of the Flower Garland, Dharma Characteristics, Three Treatises, Zen, Pure Land, and Precepts schools all believe that they have grasped the Law and freed themselves from the sufferings of birth and death. But the founders of these schools failed to discern the true meaning of the sutras upon which they based their teachings. They proceeded only in a shallow manner, employing the sutras in a way that fitted with their own ideas. In doing so, they went against the Lotus Sutra, which means that their teachings were not in accord with the true intention of the Buddha. They were unaware of this, however, and as they proceeded to propagate their doctrines, both the rulers of the nation and the common people came to believe in them. In addition, these doctrines spread to other countries, and many years have since passed. As a result, the scholars of this latter age, unaware that the founders of these schools were in error, look up to those who practice and propagate their teachings as persons of wisdom.

If the source is muddy, the stream will not flow clear; if the body is bent, the shadow will not be straight. Shan-wu-wei and the others who founded the True Word school were already destined for hell. Perhaps among them some repented in time and hence managed to avoid falling into hell. Or perhaps some merely propagated the teachings of their own sutras and neither praised [nor attacked] the Lotus Sutra, and thus, though unable to free themselves from the sufferings of birth and death, could nevertheless avoid falling into the evil paths. But the people of this latter age are not aware of these matters, and instead all alike put their faith in these teachings. They are like people who board a damaged ship and set out upon the great sea, or like those who, drunk with sake, lie down to sleep in the midst of a fire.