How Those Initially Aspiring to the Way Can Attain Buddhahood through the Lotus Sutra

Chapter9(Demonstrating the Fulfillment of Prayers in the True Law)

Play
If one uses the Lotus Sutra to pray for the welfare of the land, it will prove to be a great pure Law that will secure and protect the nation, insuring joy and prosperity to everyone from the ruler on down to the common people. King Ajātashatru and King Ashoka started out as evil rulers. But the former heeded the counsel of his high minister Jīvaka, while the latter put faith in the guidance of the Venerable Yasha, and as a result each left behind a reputation as a worthy ruler. Likewise, the emperor of the Ch’en dynasty [in China], who cast aside the three schools of the south and seven schools of the north and relied on the Dharma Teacher Chih-i, and Emperor Kammu [of Japan], who spurned the eminent priests of the six schools and instead heeded the Dharma Teacher Saichō, are known to this day as worthy rulers. Chih-i is the man who was later honored with the title of the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai, while Saichō later became known as the Great Teacher Dengyō.

The present ruler of Japan is in a position to do the same. If he will put his faith in this great pure Law, which assures its believers of “peace and security in their present existence and good circumstances in future existences,” and propagate it throughout the nation, then he will be looked up to by the people of all the provinces, and his name will be handed down in later ages as that of a worthy man. Indeed, he may come to be regarded as a manifestation of Bodhisattva Boundless Practices. And the wise man who works to propagate the five characters of the Mystic Law, no matter how lowly his station, should be looked upon as a manifestation of Bodhisattva Superior Practices, or perhaps as an envoy of Shakyamuni Thus Come One.

The bodhisattvas Medicine King, Medicine Superior, Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, and Great Power, on the other hand, were envoys of the Buddha during the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law. Because their turn has already passed, they can no longer benefit people as they did in those ancient times. Just observe what happens when prayers are offered to them at present! All such prayers go unanswered. Now, in the Latter Day of the Law, it is the turn of the bodhisattvas Superior Practices, Boundless Practices, and the others.

Only when one understands all this clearly and believes in it can the Law manifest its power and the Buddhas and bodhisattvas bring benefit to the people. To illustrate, in kindling a fire, three things are needed: a good piece of steel, a good flint, and good tinder. The same is true of prayer. Three things are required—a good teacher, a good believer, and a good teaching—before prayers can be effective and disasters banished from the land.

A good teacher is a priest who is free from any fault in secular affairs, who never fawns upon others even in the slightest, who desires and is satisfied with little, and who is compassionate; a priest who reads and upholds the Lotus Sutra precisely as it teaches and also encourages and leads others to embrace it. Such a priest the Buddha has praised among all priests as the finest teacher of the Law.

A good believer is one who does not depend upon persons of eminence or despise those of humble station; who does not rely on the backing of superiors or look down on inferiors; who, not relying upon the opinions of others, upholds the Lotus Sutra among all the sutras. Such a person the Buddha has called the best of all people.

As for a good teaching, the Buddha has told us that this sutra, the Lotus, represents the foremost among all doctrines. Among all the sutras the Buddha “has preached,” among those he “now preaches,” and among those he “will preach,” this sutra is designated as foremost, and therefore it is a good teaching.

The scriptural doctrines of the Zen, True Word, and other schools stand in second or third place by comparison, and indeed, the doctrines of the True Word school in particular deserve to be put in seventh place. And yet in Japan, these second-rate, third-rate, or even seventh-rate doctrines are used as the basis for prayers, though any proof of their efficacy has yet to be seen.

This wonderful Law, which is foremost and unexcelled, should in fact be the basis of prayers. The Buddha himself has declared that “honestly discarding expedient means, I will preach only the unsurpassed way,” and that “[the Buddhas appear in the world] solely for this one reason, which is true.” Who, then, could have doubts in the matter?

Notes

40. Yasha was the chief monk of Kukkutārāma Monastery of Magadha. He lived about one hundred years after Shakyamuni’s death and headed the Second Buddhist Council in Vaishālī.

41. Lotus Sutra, chap. 5.

42. Ibid., chap. 2.

Lecture

It is clarified here that only by praying through the Correct Teaching (the True Law) can the tranquility and peace of a nation be realized.

“If one uses the Lotus Sutra to pray for the welfare of the land, it will prove to be a great pure Law that will secure and protect the nation, insuring joy and prosperity to everyone from the ruler on down to the common people. King Ajātashatru and King Ashoka started out as evil rulers. But the former heeded the counsel of his high minister Jīvaka, while the latter put faith in the guidance of the Venerable Yasha, and as a result each left behind a reputation as a worthy ruler. Likewise, the emperor of the Ch’en dynasty [in China], who cast aside the three schools of the south and seven schools of the north and relied on the Dharma Teacher Chih-i, and Emperor Kammu [of Japan], who spurned the eminent priests of the six schools and instead heeded the Dharma Teacher Saichō, are known to this day as worthy rulers. Chih-i is the man who was later honored with the title of the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai, while Saichō later became known as the Great Teacher Dengyō.

The present ruler of Japan is in a position to do the same. If he will put his faith in this great pure Law, which assures its believers of “peace and security in their present existence and good circumstances in future existences,” and propagate it throughout the nation, then he will be looked up to by the people of all the provinces, and his name will be handed down in later ages as that of a worthy man. Indeed, he may come to be regarded as a manifestation of Bodhisattva Boundless Practices.”

Praying for “the land” means praying for the tranquility, peace, and prosperity of the nation. It is indicated that only when prayers are offered with the Lotus Sutra can everyone—from the emperor at the top down to all the common people below—rejoice and prosper without exception, thereby realizing true peace and prosperity.

“Protection of the nation” (chingo-kokka) refers to quelling disasters and safeguarding the state through Buddhist teachings—specifically, lecturing on sutras and offering prayers to ensure the peace and stability of the country. It is said that the Great Teacher Dengyo used three scriptures—the Lotus Sutra, the Benevolent Kings Sutra (Ninno-hannya-kyo), and the Sovereign Kings of the Golden Light Sutra (Konkomyo-saishoo-kyo)—as the “three sutras for the protection of the nation,” having them lectured on at length every day at the Shikan-in hall on Mount Hiei.

Needless to say, the “Lotus Sutra” that Nichiren Daishonin refers to in this writing as “the great pure Law for the protection of the nation” is not the Lotus Sutra among the “three sutras for the protection of the nation” used by the Great Teacher Dengyo, but rather Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of the sowing hidden in the depths of the text of the “Life Span” (Juryo) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, as is clear from what has already been stated in this treatise.

Next, citing historical precedents from India, China, and Japan in which rulers took faith in the correct teaching and were praised as wise kings, the Daishonin states that the present ruler of the nation should likewise take faith in the correct teaching and the correct teacher.

When King Ajatashatru was the crown prince of the kingdom of Magadha, he was instigated by Devadatta to imprison his father, King Bimbisara, causing him to die in confinement, and then ascended the throne. Because Ajatashatru cut off King Bimbisara’s food supply to starve him to death, Lady Vaidehi—Prince Ajatashatru’s mother and King Bimbisara’s consort—spread honey on her own body, visited the king, and tried to save him by letting him lick the honey. Upon learning of this, King Ajatashatru tried to kill his mother as well. Through the remonstrations of the minister Jivaka, he was dissuaded from killing his mother, though he ultimately killed his father the king.

Later, shortly before Shakyamuni’s passing, virulent sores broke out all over King Ajatashatru’s body, and just as he was about to fall into hell, the minister Jivaka admonished him, saying: “Your virulent sores cannot be cured by any renowned physician, because the great evil of having killed your father has manifested on your body. Since this is unlike any ordinary illness, there is no other way than to take faith in the Buddha and repent your karmic offenses.” The king repented from the bottom of his heart, and when Shakyamuni entered the “moon-loving samadhi” (gatsuai-zanmai) for King Ajatashatru’s sake and expounded the Nirvana Sutra, the sores were instantly cured and his life span was extended by forty years. Following Shakyamuni’s passing, the king became a lay protector of Buddhism and convened five hundred monks to hold the First Buddhist Council for the compilation of the sutras.

King Ashoka is said to have appeared about a hundred years after Shakyamuni’s passing. At first he was a tyrannical ruler, but in the ninth year of his reign, during a military expedition to the Kalinga region in which 100,000 people were killed and 150,000 were taken prisoner, he witnessed the horrific devastation and reflected deeply upon his actions. Thereafter, he abandoned conquest by force and governed the realm based on the Buddhist spirit of compassion. Renouncing war, he devoted his efforts to welfare policies and pursued peaceful diplomacy, carrying out an ideal form of governance. He also dispatched missionaries to various regions such as southern India, Sri Lanka, and Kashmir, laying the foundation for the eastward transmission of Buddhism. According to one account, he convened the Third Buddhist Council to compile the sutras. The achievements of King Ashoka are known through numerous stone pillars and rock edicts.

The Venerable Yasha, who led King Ashoka to Buddhism, refers to the minister Yasha. Around a hundred years after Shakyamuni’s passing, he became the chief priest of the Kukkutarama Monastery in Pataliputra, the capital of Magadha, and led King Ashoka to take faith in the correct teaching. He is also said to have conducted the Second Buddhist Council.

Thus, King Ajatashatru took faith in the correct teaching through the minister Jivaka, and King Ashoka did so through the minister Yasha; as a result, both were able to leave behind the name of a “wise king” for posterity.

“The ruler of the Chen dynasty who rejected the three schools of the south and seven schools of the north and employed the Teacher of the Law Chih-i [Zhiyi]” refers to Shubao, the fifth emperor of the Chen dynasty, which was the final southern dynasty during China’s Northern and Southern Dynasties period.

In The Bodies and Minds of Ordinary Beings (Shujo shinshin gosho), it is stated: “Then, in the time of the Ch’en and Sui dynasties during the Middle Day of the Law, there appeared a young priest named Chih-i, who was later to be known as the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai Chih-che. Although he taught many doctrines, his teachings ultimately centered upon this single issue of the relative superiority of the Lotus, Nirvana, and Flower Garland sutras.

The Dharma Teacher Chih-i declared that the teachers of Buddhism had these three works ranked upside down. The ruler of the Ch’en dynasty, in order to determine the truth of the matter, thereupon summoned a group of more than a hundred men, including the Administrator of Priests Hui-heng, the Supervisor of Priests Hui-k’uang, the Dharma Teacher Hui-jung, and the Dharma Teacher Fa-sui, all among the most eminent leaders of the ten schools of the north and south, and had them confront Chih-i in debate.

The Dharma Teacher Chih-i said: “The Lotus Sutra itself says, ‘among the sutras, it holds the highest place.’ It also says, ‘Among the sutras I [Shakyamuni] have preached, now preach, and will preach, this Lotus Sutra is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.’ The Immeasurable Meanings Sutra makes clear that the sutras the Buddha already ‘has preached’ here refer to ‘the teaching of great wisdom and the Flower Garland teaching of the ocean-imprint meditation’ and so forth. And with regard to the sutras he ‘will preach,’ the Nirvana Sutra says, ‘. . . from the prajnā-pāramitā (the teachings of the perfection of wisdom) he brought forth the Nirvana Sutra.’ These scriptural passages show that the Lotus Sutra is superior to the Flower Garland and Nirvana sutras; they make it abundantly clear, clear as could possibly be. You should understand accordingly.”

Rebuked in this manner, some of his opponents simply shut their mouths, others spewed out abuse, while still others turned pale. The Ch’en ruler then rose from his seat and bowed three times, and all the hundred officials pressed their palms together in reverence. Powerless to prevail, the leaders of the other schools conceded defeat.” (WND-1, p. 1129).

Emperor Kammu of Japan held the Great Teacher Dengyo (Saicho) in high esteem. When the Great Teacher Dengyo built a practice hall on Mount Hiei in the fourth year of Enryaku (785), the emperor designated it as the imperial chapel for the sovereign’s destiny, and in the seventh year of the same era (788), the Great Teacher Dengyo constructed the Konpon Ichijo Shikan-in hall for Emperor Kammu. Furthermore, in the first month of the twenty-first year of Enryaku (802) at Mount Takao, the emperor had the Great Teacher Dengyo lecture on the Lotus Sutra before fourteen eminent scholars of the six schools of Nara, compelling them to acknowledge the principle of the supreme superiority of the Lotus Sutra.

In The Rationale for Writing “On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land” (Ankokuron gokan yurai), the Daishonin states: “In the fourth year of the Enryaku era (785), Saichō founded a temple on Mount Hiei in order to insure the continuance of peace in heaven and on earth. Emperor Kammu paid honor to the new establishment, designating it as a place of worship where prayers could be offered to the guardian star of the ruler. He ceased to heed the teachings of the six schools and instead gave wholehearted allegiance to the perfect doctrines of the Tendai school.

In the thirteenth year of the Enryaku era, the emperor moved the capital from Nagaoka to the city of Heian.² In the twenty-first year of the same era, on the nineteenth day of the first month, the emperor summoned fourteen great scholars of the six schools from the seven major temples of Nara, including such priests as Gonzō and Chōyō, to Takao-dera temple, and ordered them to engage Saichō in debate.” (WND-1, p. 162).

In this way, the Daishonin explains that both Emperor Shubao of Chen and the Emperor of Japan believed in and protected the correct teaching of the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai and the Great Teacher Dengyo, and were therefore able to leave behind the name of wise kings for posterity. He declares that if the present ruler of the nation follows these precedents by believing in the great pure Law and propagating it throughout the land, he will be looked up to and revered by all nations in the present, and will leave behind the name of a wise man and a wise king for generations to come.

“The present ruler of the nation” is considered to refer not to the emperor in Kyoto, but to Hojo Tokimune, the regent of the Kamakura shogunate who held actual power at that time.

The Daishonin then states that if the present ruler embraces the correct teaching and assists in its propagation, “who knows but that he may be an incarnation of Bodhisattva Boundless Practices?”

Among the four bodhisattvas who are the leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, Bodhisattva Superior Practices needless to say represents the Daishonin, who upholds and protects the correct teaching. “Boundless Practices” (Muhengyo), just as the characters of his name indicate, represents the function of causing the correct teaching to spread far and wide. Therefore, it is understood that a ruler who takes faith in the correct teaching and reflects it within society is described as “an incarnation of Bodhisattva Boundless Practices.”

“And the wise man who works to propagate the five characters of the Mystic Law, no matter how lowly his station, should be looked upon as a manifestation of Bodhisattva Superior Practices, or perhaps as an envoy of Shakyamuni Thus Come One.

The bodhisattvas Medicine King, Medicine Superior, Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, and Great Power, on the other hand, were envoys of the Buddha during the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law. Because their turn has already passed, they can no longer benefit people as they did in those ancient times. Just observe what happens when prayers are offered to them at present! All such prayers go unanswered. Now, in the Latter Day of the Law, it is the turn of the bodhisattvas Superior Practices, Boundless Practices, and the others.

Only when one understands all this clearly and believes in it can the Law manifest its power and the Buddhas and bodhisattvas bring benefit to the people. To illustrate, in kindling a fire, three things are needed: a good piece of steel, a good flint, and good tinder. The same is true of prayer. Three things are required—a good teacher, a good believer, and a good teaching—before prayers can be effective and disasters banished from the land.

A good teacher is a priest who is free from any fault in secular affairs, who never fawns upon others even in the slightest, who desires and is satisfied with little, and who is compassionate; a priest who reads and upholds the Lotus Sutra precisely as it teaches and also encourages and leads others to embrace it. Such a priest the Buddha has praised among all priests as the finest teacher of the Law.

A good believer is one who does not depend upon persons of eminence or despise those of humble station; who does not rely on the backing of superiors or look down on inferiors; who, not relying upon the opinions of others, upholds the Lotus Sutra among all the sutras. Such a person the Buddha has called the best of all people.

As for a good teaching, the Buddha has told us that this sutra, the Lotus, represents the foremost among all doctrines. Among all the sutras the Buddha “has preached,” among those he “now preaches,” and among those he “will preach,” this sutra is designated as foremost, and therefore it is a good teaching.

The scriptural doctrines of the Zen, True Word, and other schools stand in second or third place by comparison, and indeed, the doctrines of the True Word school in particular deserve to be put in seventh place. And yet in Japan, these second-rate, third-rate, or even seventh-rate doctrines are used as the basis for prayers, though any proof of their efficacy has yet to be seen.

This wonderful Law, which is foremost and unexcelled, should in fact be the basis of prayers. The Buddha himself has declared that “honestly discarding expedient means, I will preach only the unsurpassed way,” and that “[the Buddhas appear in the world] solely for this one reason, which is true.” Who, then, could have doubts in the matter?”

In contrast to the ruler who protects the correct teaching being an incarnation of Boundless Practices, the Daishonin states that the wise person who propagates the correct teaching is an “incarnation of Superior Practices” and the envoy of Shakyamuni Thus Come One. Needless to say, this refers to the Daishonin himself.

“No matter how lowly his station” means that, as stated in the passage, “The “Buddha” spoken of in this passage, the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law, is an ordinary mortal and an ordinary priest.” (OTT, p. 157), one must never despise him simply because he appears in the form of an ordinary mortal.

Furthermore, the Daishonin points out that in the Latter Day of the Law, only Bodhisattva Superior Practices, the leader of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth of the essential teaching, can benefit living beings. Bodhisattvas of the theoretical teaching and of other worlds—such as Bodhisattva Medicine King, Bodhisattva Medicine Superior, Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, and Bodhisattva Great Power Obtained—were able to save living beings during the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law following Shakyamuni’s passing, but have lost their power to benefit people in the Latter Day of the Law. Consequently, praying to those bodhisattvas will never bring about any fulfillment of prayer whatsoever.

Using the analogy of how fire was produced in those days—by striking a piece of steel against the edge of a flint and transferring the resulting spark to tinder—the Daishonin teaches that only when the three elements of “a good teacher, a good believer (patron), and a good Law” come together can prayers be answered and the land become peaceful and secure.

In the present Latter Day of the Law:

• “A good teacher” is the Original Buddha, Nichiren Daishonin.
• “A good believer” is the Soka Gakkai, which embraces and practices the correct teaching (here, the “ruler of the nation” protecting the correct teaching is referred to as “a good believer”).
• “A good Law” needless to say refers to the Mystic Law of the Three Great Secret Laws.

When a good believer prays through a good teacher and a good Law, even “the great difficulties confronting the nation can be dispelled.”

Regarding “a good teacher,” the Daishonin states that the Buddha defines a good teacher as a priest who is free of worldly faults, never flatters others, has few desires and knows satisfaction, possesses compassion, reads and upholds the Lotus Sutra in accordance with the sutra text, and causes others to uphold it as well.

“Free of any notable worldly faults” means having no transgressions in secular affairs, and “never flattering in the slightest” means neither fearing authority nor acting servilely to curry favor. “Having few desires and knowing satisfaction” means having little greed and being content with even a small amount.

In The Essentials for Attainng Buddhahood (Soya-dono gohenji), the Daishonin states: “Priests in the Latter Day of the Law are ignorant of the principles of Buddhism and are conceited, so they despise the correct teacher and fawn on patrons. True priests are those who are honest and who desire little and yet know satisfaction.” (WND-1, p. 747).

“A priest who possesses compassion” refers to a priest with a strong heart of loving-kindness and pity toward all living beings.

And “a priest who reads and upholds the Lotus Sutra in accordance with the sutra text and encourages others to uphold it as well” means that if one follows the intent of the sutra text, which is the golden speech of the Buddha, it is clear that the Lotus Sutra is the foremost Law; it is the duty of a priest to uphold the Lotus Sutra himself and encourage others to embrace it.

“Not siding with the noble nor despising the lowly, not relying on superiors nor looking down on inferiors” means interacting with people and acting strictly on the basis of Buddhism, regardless of birth (noble or lowly) or social standing (superior or inferior).

“Relying on no person whatsoever” means not relying on the words of human teachers—that is, not following words based on personal, arbitrary views.

“Upholding the Lotus Sutra among all sutras” means believing that among the entire body of sutras, the Lotus Sutra alone is the sole, peerless correct teaching. A person who upholds the correct teaching becomes “a good person among all people,” as stated in Questions and Answers about Embracing the Lotus Sutra: “If the sutra that one embraces is superior to all other sutras, then the person who can uphold its teachings must likewise surpass other people. That is why the Lotus Sutra states, “A person who can accept and uphold this sutra is likewise foremost among all living beings.” There is no question about these golden words of the great sage.” (WND-1, p. 60).

Regarding the “good Law,” Shakyamuni expounds in the tenth chapter of the Lotus Sutra, “The Teacher of the Law” (Hoshi), “Among the sutras I have preached, the Lotus is the foremost… The sutras I have preached number in the immeasurable thousands, ten thousands, and millions—those I have preached, now preach, and will preach. Yet among them all, this Lotus Sutra is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.” Thus, it is evident that the Lotus Sutra is foremost among all scriptures—the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings preached in the past, the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra being preached in the present, and the Nirvana Sutra to be preached in the future—and that the Lotus Sutra itself is the “good Law.”

In contrast, “the sutras and teachings of the Zen school, the True Word (Shingon) school, and others are second or third.” This does not mean that the Zen school ranks second and the True Word school ranks third, but rather indicates that they are far inferior to the Lotus Sutra.

Regarding the True Word school in particular, the Daishonin states that when examined in detail, it falls to “the seventh level of inferiority.” According to On the Sevenfold Superiority and Inferiority of the True Word School (Shingon shichiju shoretsu-ji), the sevenfold inferiority is as follows:

The Sevenfold Superiority and Inferiority of the Lotus and Mahavairocana Sutras

• 1st: Lotus Sutra — Foremost among past, present, and future sutras (1st: Essential teaching / 2nd: Theoretical teaching). “Medicine King, now I say to you, among all the sutras, it holds the highest place.”
• 2nd: Nirvana Sutra — “This sutra appears in the world…”
• 3rd: Immeasurable Meanings Sutra — “Next I preached the vaipulya sutras of the twelve divisions, the Great Wisdom, and the sea-imprint meditation of the Flower Garland, which are true and profound, true and profound.”
• 4th: Flower Garland Sutra (Kegon-kyo)
• 5th: Wisdom Sutras (Hannya-kyo)
• 6th: Susiddhikara Sutra (Soshitsuji-kyo) — Volume 1 states: “Among the three divisions, take this sutra as the king.” Volume 2 states: “If one still fails to achieve attainment, one should perform this practice and will definitely achieve it—namely, begging for alms, diligent effort, recitation, great reverence, visiting the eight sacred sites, and circumambulation; or again, reading through the Great Wisdom Sutra seven times or a hundred times.” Volume 3 states: “At the three periods of the day, constantly read the Mahayana Wisdom and other sutras.”
• 7th: Mahavairocana Sutra (Dainichi-kyo) — A doctrine not yet propagated in the three countries (India, China, and Japan).

Furthermore, in On the Superiority and Inferiority of T’ien-t’ai and True Word (Tendai Shingon shoretsu-ji), the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra is listed as second and the Nirvana Sutra as third. Thus, the content of the Mahavairocana Sutra is seven levels inferior to the Lotus Sutra.

Nevertheless, in Japan, prayers are offered using the rituals of the True Word school, so there is no reason for such prayers to be answered. Although the Daishonin states gently in this writing, “I have not yet seen any proof of it,” he points out in various other writings that not only do such prayers go unanswered, but they actually invite severe punishment instead.

Finally, quoting the passage from the second chapter of the Lotus Sutra, “Expedient Means” (Hoben), “Honestly discarding expedient means, I will preach only the unsurpassed way,” as well as the passage from the same chapter, “The Buddhas appear in the world for this one fact alone, which is true,” the Daishonin teaches that prayers must be offered through the supreme and foremost Mystic Law.

Because the Lotus Sutra alone is Shakyamuni’s true teaching, only when one prays with the Lotus Sutra does it become a true prayer, manifesting the actual proof of the peace and security of the land and the attainment of Buddhahood.