The Essentials for Attaining Buddhahood

Chapter3(Clarifying the Two Meanings of General and Specific Entrustment)

Main Text

With regard to the transfer of teachings, it is divided into two categories: general and specific. If you confuse the general with the specific even in the slightest,³ you will never be able to attain Buddhahood and will wander in suffering through endless transmigrations of births and deaths.

For example, the voice-hearers in Shakyamuni Buddha’s lifetime received the seeds of Buddhahood from Shakyamuni in the distant past when he was the sixteenth son of the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence. Therefore, they could not attain enlightenment by following Amida, Medicine Master, or any other Buddha. To illustrate, if a family member brings home water from the ocean, the entire family can use it. But were they to refuse even a single drop of that water and instead go looking for water from some other ocean, it would be terribly misguided and foolish. In the same way, to forget the original teacher who had brought one the water of wisdom from the great ocean of the Lotus Sutra and instead follow another would surely cause one to sink into the endless sufferings of birth and death.

Notes

3. The general refers to an overall or surface view, and the specific, to a deeper, more sharply delineated view. In the “Entrustment” chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni makes a general transfer of the sutra to all the bodhisattvas present, but in the “Supernatural Powers” chapter, he specifically transfers the essence of the sutra, or the Mystic Law, to Bodhisattva Superior Practices and the other Bodhisattvas of the Earth.

Lecture

There are two meanings to entrustment (fuzoku): general entrustment (so-fuzoku) and specific entrustment (betsu-fuzoku). Nichiren Daishonin strictly warns that if one confuses these two or is mistaken about them, not only will attaining Buddhahood be impossible, but it will also become a cause for continuing the cycle of birth and death.

As an example, he cites the importance of the relationship between seed, maturation, and harvest (shu-juku-datsu). He explains that even if the voice-hearers of today—who originally received the “seed” of Buddhahood from Shakyamuni when he was the sixteenth son of the Great Universal Wisdom Excellence Buddha—met and were taught by Amida or Medicine Master (Yakushi) Buddha, they could not attain Buddhahood. This is because these voice-hearers can only reach enlightenment if their seeds are matured and harvested specifically by Shakyamuni.

Furthermore, he uses the metaphor of bringing water from the great ocean into one’s home. If the entire family is enjoying the benefits of that moisture, but then abandons that ocean water to go out of their way to seek water from a different ocean, it would be a grave error. In the same way, he strictly cautions that if one forgets the “Original Teacher” who inherited the “water of wisdom” from the ocean of the Lotus Sutra and instead moves one’s heart toward other teachers, it will inevitably lead to further transmigration in the cycle of birth and death.

On the Two Meanings: General and Specific

In the ceremony of the Essential Teaching (Honmon) of the Lotus Sutra, there are two types of entrustment: general and specific.

1. Specific Entrustment (Betsu-fuzoku)

This refers to the “entrustment of the essence” (keryo-fuzoku) taught in the “Supernatural Powers” (21st) chapter of the Lotus Sutra. It is the ceremony where Shakyamuni entrusted the core essence of the Lotus Sutra specifically to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, led by the four leaders including Bodhisattva Superior Practices (Jogyo).

2. General Entrustment (So-fuzoku)

This is taught in the “Entrustment” (22nd) chapter of the Lotus Sutra. The following sutra passage describes this event:

“At that time Shakyamuni Buddha rose from his Dharma seat and manifested great supernatural powers. With his right hand he patted the heads of immeasurable Bodhisattvas-mahasattvas and said: ‘For immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of asamkhya kalpas I have practiced this Law of supreme enlightenment which is so difficult to attain. Now I entrust it to you. You must single-mindedly circulate this Law and cause it to increase and spread broadly.'”

Because Shakyamuni patted the heads of immeasurable Bodhisattvas three times while entrusting the Law, this is also called the “entrustment through the patting of the heads” (mapcho-fuzoku). It is called “general entrustment” because it was given to all the immeasurable Bodhisattvas, regardless of whether they were “Bodhisattvas of the Earth” (honge), “Bodhisattvas of the Theoretical Teaching” (shakka), or from other worlds.

The Vital Distinction

The most important point regarding these two meanings of entrustment is that the entity of the Law (hotai) to be entrusted and the time for its propagation are different for each.

• For General Entrustment:

  • Entity: The Law entrusted to all Bodhisattvas encompasses not only the literal text of the Lotus Sutra but all the sutras preached before and after it.

  • Time: Its propagation is intended for the capacities of living beings during the 2,000 years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law following Shakyamuni’s passing.

  • In the writing “On the Five Guides for Propagation,” the Daishonin states: “For the sake of persons living in the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law after his passing, Shakyamuni Buddha emerged from the treasure tower and, standing in the midst of the air, with his right hand he patted the heads of Manjushrī, Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, Brahmā, Shakra, the gods of the sun and moon, and the four heavenly kings. After doing this three times, he then took the comprehensive and the abbreviated teachings of the Lotus Sutra, which are different from the essential Law of the sutra mentioned above, as well as all the other sutras preached before and after the Lotus, and entrusted these to Manjushrī, Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, and the other great bodhisattvas. This was for the sake of those living during the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law.“(WND-2, p. 551)

• For Specific Entrustment:

  • Entity: The entity of the Law is the five or seven characters of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo hidden in the depths of the “Life Span” chapter.

  • Time: The period for its propagation is the Latter Day of the Law.

Therefore, those born in the Latter Day of the Law possess the capacity to attain Buddhahood solely through Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which was specifically entrusted to Bodhisattva Superior Practices and the others. One must never confuse these two points.

If one relies on the teachings of the Bodhisattvas of the Theoretical Teaching (who received general entrustment) or follows Buddhas such as Amida or Mahavairocana (Dainichi), the time, the capacity of the people, and the teaching will all be mismatched. As the Daishonin warns, far from attaining Buddhahood, this will only lead one back to the source of the cycle of birth and death within the Six Paths.