Chapter1(Revealing That the Lotus School Is the School Founded by Shakyamuni Buddha)
QUESTION: Of the eight schools, the nine schools, or the ten schools, which is the true school founded by Shakyamuni Buddha?
Answer: The Lotus school is the school founded by Shakyamuni. We know this because of the statement that, of all the sutras “I [Shakyamuni] have preached, now preach, and will preach,” the Lotus Sutra is foremost. These words were spoken by Shakyamuni Buddha himself. Therefore, [the school based on] the Lotus Sutra is known as the Buddha-founded school and is also called the Lotus school. It is also known as the Tendai school.
For this reason, the Great Teacher Dengyō states in his commentary, “The Lotus school, which T’ien-t’ai elucidated, represents the school founded by Shakyamuni, the World-Honored One.” In none of the sutras other than the Lotus does one find a passage concerning [the relative superiority of] all the sutras that “I have preached, now preach, and will preach.” Here, the sutras that the Buddha has preached refer to the various sutras expounded by the Buddha in the more than forty years before he preached the Lotus Sutra. Those he now preaches refer to the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra. Those he will preach refer to the Nirvana Sutra. The Buddha thus firmly decreed that, transcending these three categories of sutras, the Lotus Sutra alone constitutes the school that assures the attainment of Buddhahood.
The various other schools were founded by bodhisattvas or teachers in the period after the Buddha had entered nirvana. Should we now turn our backs upon the Buddha’s decree and follow the schools established by the bodhisattvas and teachers? Or should we ignore the words of the bodhisattvas and teachers and follow the school established by the Buddha? Or should we entrust ourselves to either course as the feeling strikes us, and uphold whatever sutra or doctrine suits our inclination? The Buddha knew long ago that we would have doubts of this kind, and therefore he clearly designated the sutra to be embraced by those who are truly aspiring to the way in this defiled and evil age of the Latter Day of the Law.
A sutra says: “Rely on the Law and not upon persons. Rely on the meaning of the teaching and not on the words. Rely on wisdom and not on discriminative thinking. Rely on sutras that are complete and final and not on those that are not complete and final.” The meaning of this passage is that one should not rely upon the words of the bodhisattvas and teachers, but should heed what was established by the Buddha. It further means that one should not rely upon the teachings of the True Word, Zen, and Nembutsu schools, which are based upon the sutras of the Flower Garland, Āgama, Correct and Equal, and Wisdom periods, but should uphold the sutras that are complete and final. And by relying upon “sutras that are complete and final,” it means upholding the Lotus Sutra.
Notes
1. The eight schools are the Dharma Analysis Treasury, Establishment of Truth, Precepts, Dharma Characteristics, Three Treatises, Flower Garland, Tendai, and True Word schools. The nine schools comprise these eight plus the Zen school, and the ten schools are those nine plus the Pure Land school.
2. Lotus Sutra, chap. 10.
3. The Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sutra.
4. Nirvana Sutra. These injunctions are termed the “four reliances,” but they are also known as the “four standards.”
5. Collectively, the provisional teachings preached prior to the Lotus Sutra, according to T’ien-t’ai’s classification of sutras. See five periods in Glossary.
Lecture
This writing is said to have been authored by Nichiren Daishonin in the third month of the third year of Kenji (1277) at the age of fifty-six while at Minobu, and bestowed upon the lay nun Myoho, who resided in Okamiya of Suruga Province.
However, because the date of its composition is missing, there are also differing theories placing it in the eighth year of Bun’ei (1271), the ninth year of Bun’ei (1272), the second year of Kenji (1276), the fourth year of Koan (1281), or the fifth year of Koan (1282).
Moreover, since the original manuscript no longer exists, there are theories suggesting it to be an apocryphal work or ghostwritten by Nichiji.
As for the lay nun Myoho of Okamiya, little is known about her other than that she was a woman believer who steadfastly maintained her faith despite being preceded in death by her husband and elder brother, and that she enjoyed the profound trust of the Daishonin.
The title Hokke Shoshin Jobutsu Sho (On Attaining Buddhahood for Beginners in the Lotus Sutra) is thought to have been appended later based on its contents. “Hokke” primarily refers to the Lotus Sutra; viewed from a deeper perspective, however, as stated in this writing—”At the time of the Latter Day of the Law, the seven characters of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which represent the heart and core of the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra to be propagated by Shakyamuni Buddha of the eternal past, Bodhisattva Superior Practices, Bodhisattva Boundless Practices, and others, alone will spread throughout this country, bringing benefit and salvation, and it is a time when the benefit bestowed by Bodhisattva Superior Practices will flourish”—it refers to Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the very heart and core of the Lotus Sutra.
“Beginners” (shoshin) refers to those who have newly aroused the aspiration for enlightenment and set their hearts on the Buddhist way. This title was likely chosen because, in the latter half of the treatise, the question “Can a person without wisdom also attain Buddhahood in one’s present form if they believe in the Lotus Sutra?” is posed, clarifying that beginner practitioners in the Latter Day of the Law can attain Buddhahood solely through the Mystic Law.
The living beings of the Latter Day of the Law are those who have not planted good roots in past existences (honmi uzen); in the sense that the seed of Buddhahood is planted and a connection formed for the very first time, all are without exception beginners. It can be said that this treatise reveals the Lotus Sutra to be the very Law that enables these beginner living beings of the Latter Day of the Law to attain Buddhahood.
In terms of content, this treatise discusses the correctness and falsity of the various schools through a question-and-answer format, reveals that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the great Law to be propagated in the Latter Day of the Law, and further expounds the profound doctrine by which beginner practitioners in the Latter Day can attain Buddhahood.
First, it establishes that among the various schools, the Lotus school alone was founded by Shakyamuni Buddha himself—that is, it is the school founded by the Buddha (Butsuritsu-shu). It explains from the viewpoints of the teaching, the people’s capacity, the time, and the country that the Lotus Sutra alone embodies the Buddha’s true intention and is the Law for attaining Buddhahood. It then clarifies that in the present Latter Day of the Law, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the heart and core of the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra, is the sole essential Law for attaining Buddhahood.
Next, citing examples from the lifetime of Shakyamuni Buddha and from the Former and Middle Days of the Law, the treatise demonstrates that the Lotus Sutra is the Great White Law serving as the foundation of all Buddhist scriptures, and states that only when the three elements—a good teacher, a good believer, and a good teaching—come together can prayers be answered and national disasters averted.
It also explains that even persons without wisdom can attain Buddhahood only through the Lotus Sutra, urging believers to exert themselves vigorously in shakubuku (refutation and propagation). It clarifies the three powerful enemies that arise in response to shakubuku, teaching that those who practice shakubuku without fearing persecution are the true practitioners of the Lotus Sutra.
Finally, it presents the principle of attaining Buddhahood—that one who chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo can awaken the Buddha nature inherent within one’s own mind—and concludes by encouraging them to devote themselves to the chanting of Daimoku with strong faith.
Question: Among the eight, nine, or ten schools, which is the school founded by Shakyamuni Buddha? Answer: The Lotus school is the school established by Shakyamuni Buddha. The reason is that the Buddha taught, “Among what I have preached, now preach, and will preach, the Lotus Sutra stands foremost.” These are the very words spoken by Shakyamuni Buddha establishing this school. Therefore, the Lotus Sutra is called the school established by the Buddha (Butsuritsu-shu), or the Lotus school, or also the Tendai school. For this reason, the Great Teacher Dengyo explained in his commentary, “The Lotus school expounded by Tendai is the school founded by the World-Honored One Shakyamuni.” In no sutra other than the Lotus Sutra does the passage concerning “what has been preached, is now preached, and will be preached” appear at all. “What has been preached” refers to the various sutras expounded over the forty-odd years prior to the Lotus Sutra. “What is now preached” refers to the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra. “What will be preached” refers to the Nirvana Sutra. The Buddha determined that, aside from these three categories of preaching, the Lotus Sutra alone is the school through which one can attain Buddhahood.
First, it is clarified that the Lotus Sutra alone is the school founded by Shakyamuni Buddha himself (Butsuritsu-shu), because among the three categories of preaching—past, present, and future—the Lotus Sutra alone is the true Buddhist teaching, whereas the other schools are provisional schools established by human teachers.
In the Japan of that time, there were the six schools of Nara—Kusha, Jojitsu, Ritsu, Hosso, Sanron, and Kegon—which, together with the Tendai and Shingon schools established at the beginning of the Heian period, formed the eight schools. When the Zen and Nembutsu schools that arose in the late Heian period were added, they came to be known as the ten schools.
Posing the question of which among these schools is the true doctrine established by Shakyamuni Buddha, he declares, “The Lotus school is the school established by Shakyamuni Buddha.”
As for the reason, he states that it is because the Buddha preached, “Among what I have preached, now preach, and will preach, the Lotus Sutra stands foremost.”
“The Lotus Sutra stands foremost” refers to the passage in “The Teacher of the Law” (tenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, which states: “Among the sutras I have preached, now preach, and will preach, this Lotus Sutra is foremost… The sutras I have preached number immeasurable thousands, ten thousands, millions. Some I have preached, some I now preach, and some I will preach. Yet among them, this Lotus Sutra is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.”
In this way, because Shakyamuni Buddha himself determined that among all the sutras he had preached in the past, was preaching in the present, and would preach in the future, the Lotus Sutra was foremost, the school based on the Lotus Sutra is called the school established by the Buddha (Butsuritsu-shu), and is also referred to as the Lotus school or the Tendai school.
Although the “Tendai school” is mentioned here, the Tendai school of that time was no longer the pure lineage of the Tendai Lotus school founded by the Great Teacher Dengyo, but had degenerated into a Tendai-Shingon amalgamation; nevertheless, it is understood that the original Tendai school is cited here as the Lotus school. Furthermore, in the Latter Day of the Law, the “Lotus school” based on Nam-myoho-renge-kyo hidden in the depths of the “Life Span” chapter of the Lotus Sutra, established by Nichiren Daishonin, is the true Lotus school.
He then cites a passage from the Great Teacher Dengyo’s Hokke Shuku (The Clarification of the Lotus School), which states that the Tendai Lotus school expounded and propagated by the Great Teacher Tendai is the very doctrine founded by Shakyamuni Buddha.
The reason is that although faith in the Lotus Sutra had existed prior to the Great Teacher Tendai, it had not correctly grasped the true intent of the Lotus Sutra. Viewing the Lotus Sutra on an equal footing with other sutras contradicts Shakyamuni Buddha’s intent when stating that of those preached in the past, present, and future, the Lotus Sutra is “the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.” The Great Teacher Tendai focused on this passage concerning “what has been preached, is now preached, and will be preached,” clarifying that “what has been preached” refers to the provisional teachings preached over the forty-odd years before the Lotus Sutra, “what is now preached” refers to the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra preached immediately before the Lotus Sutra as its opening scripture, and “what will be preached” refers to the Nirvana Sutra; and that aside from these three categories of preaching, the Lotus Sutra alone is the school through which all living beings attain Buddhahood.
Furthermore, citing the passage on the three categories of preaching from “The Teacher of the Law” chapter, Hokke Shuku states: “You should understand that the sutras of the four periods that have already been preached, the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra now being preached, and the Nirvana Sutra to be preached in the future are easy to believe and easy to understand, because they accord with the minds of others (zuitai). This Lotus Sutra is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand, because it accords with the Buddha’s own mind (zuijii).” While the three categories of preaching are teachings that accord with the minds of others and adapt to the capacities of living beings, being easy to believe and easy to understand, the Lotus Sutra is a teaching expounded directly from Shakyamuni Buddha’s own enlightenment (zuijii); therefore, it is the most difficult to believe and understand, and stands foremost.
And the reason why the Lotus Sutra stands foremost among all the sutras preached by Shakyamuni during his fifty years of teaching is that the Lotus Sutra alone reveals the attainment of Buddhahood for all living beings.
It was generally held that a bodhisattva could attain Buddhahood only as a result of practicing over countless kalpas (rekko shugyo) to completely sever all earthly desires. Hinayana Buddhism taught the attainment of the way through severing delusions with thirty-four mental states, while Mahayana sutras taught that one attains Buddhahood by progressing through forty-two or fifty-two stages of practice. In contrast, the Lotus Sutra expounds the attainment of Buddhahood in one’s present form (sokushin jobutsu).
Moreover, the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings generally taught that persons of the two vehicles could never attain Buddhahood, and denied Buddhahood to evil persons and women; even if it were permitted, it was not the attainment of Buddhahood in one’s present form, but rather attaining Buddhahood only after eradicating the evils of body and mind. In the Lotus Sutra, the attainment of Buddhahood by persons of the two vehicles and by evil persons and women is clearly expounded, and the principle of the attainment of Buddhahood by plants and trees (insentient beings) is further revealed.
Depending on the school, various forms of attaining Buddhahood are taught—such as attaining Buddhahood upon the perfection of faith in the Kegon school, directly pointing to one’s mind and perceiving one’s nature to attain Buddhahood in the Zen school, attaining Buddhahood through rebirth in the Pure Land in the Pure Land school, and three types of attaining Buddhahood in the Shingon school—yet none of these represents true attainment of Buddhahood in one’s present form. Furthermore, even if they claim to teach attaining Buddhahood in one’s present form, the actual meaning is absent from their foundational scriptures, being nothing more than doctrines devised by human teachers according to their own interpretations. The Lotus Sutra, which reveals the attainment of Buddhahood in one’s present form for all living beings, is indeed the school founded by the Buddha.
The other schools are those established after the Buddha’s passing into nirvana by either bodhisattvas or human teachers. Should one follow the schools established by bodhisattvas and human teachers in defiance of the Buddha’s decree, or should one follow the school established by the Buddha in defiance of the words of bodhisattvas and human teachers? Or should one simply follow one’s own inclination and embrace whatever sutra or teaching one desires? Anticipating this dilemma, the Buddha determined the sutra to be embraced by those who genuinely seek the way in the impure and evil Latter Day of the Law. The sutra states: “Rely on the Law and not upon persons. Rely on the meaning and not upon the words. Rely on wisdom and not upon consciousness. Rely on sutras that are complete and final in meaning, and not on those that are not complete and final in meaning.” The heart of this passage is this: Do not rely on the words of bodhisattvas and human teachers, but follow the Buddha’s decree. Do not rely on the teachings of the Kegon, Agama, Hodo, and Hannya sutras, nor on Shingon, Zen, or Nembutsu, but embrace the sutra that is complete and final in meaning. The instruction to embrace the sutra of complete and final meaning means that one should embrace the Lotus Sutra.
Next, the reason why schools other than the Lotus school cannot be called schools founded by the Buddha is clarified.
The various schools that rely on sutras other than the Lotus Sutra are provisional schools established by bodhisattvas and human teachers after the passing of Shakyamuni Buddha.
In Hokke Shuku, the Great Teacher Dengyo states: “When Shakyamuni established his school, he made the Lotus Sutra the ultimate, because it is the fundamental Law. He waited for the proper time and the proper capacity. When treatise masters establish their schools, they take their own views to be the ultimate, because they are based on opportune preaching. Some establish emptiness, while others establish existence. It is earnestly hoped that wise and virtuous persons of understanding will deeply examine the Buddha’s own words and make them their guide.”
That is to say, Shakyamuni Buddha’s true intention lay entirely in the Lotus Sutra; its propagation merely awaited the proper time and the people’s capacity. The schools that came before were established by bodhisattvas and treatise masters based on opportune preaching, meaning that one must always make the Buddha’s own preaching the fundamental standard of judgment.
Here, “establishing emptiness” refers to the Sanron school, and “establishing existence” refers to the Hosso school. The Sanron school was established based on the three treatises of Bodhisattvas Nagarjuna and Aryadeva, and further through the commentaries of Chia-hsiang and others. The Hosso school was established based on the Yogacarabhumi-shastra and Vimsatika-vijnaptimatrata-siddhi of Bodhisattvas Maitreya and Vasubandhu, and further developed through the commentaries of Hsuan-tsang, Tz’u-en, and others.
In Refuting Ryōkan and the Others, the Daishonin declares: “When I offered up my original prayer, I vowed that I would approach the various schools of Buddhism without prejudice or partiality regarding any particular one, but would judge them on the basis of proofs to be found in the Buddha’s own words and the light of reason. I would rely not upon the writings of the scholars, the translators, or the teachers of doctrine, but solely upon the sutra texts themselves.” (WND-1, p. 1050). In this way, he strictly shows that one must not rely on the theories of any treatise masters or human teachers, but use only that which possesses clear textual and rational proof in the sutra passages expounded by the Buddha.
Whether one should make the Buddha’s preaching fundamental or the treatises of bodhisattvas and human teachers fundamental is self-evident.
Furthermore, for those who believe that one may choose sutras and teachings as one pleases, Shakyamuni Buddha foresaw the emergence of such views and designated the sutra to be embraced by “those who genuinely seek the way” in the “impure and evil Latter Day of the Law,” which is made clear when illuminated by the passage on the Four Reliances in the Nirvana Sutra.
The Four Reliances designate four standards on which those seeking the true Buddhist way should rely. Generally, the Four Reliances are categorized into the “Four Reliances on the Law” and the “Four Reliances on Persons”; here, because four principles to be relied upon regarding the teachings are set forth, they are called the “Four Reliances on the Law.”
“Rely on the Law and not upon persons” means that those who practice Buddhism must rely on the teachings of the Law itself, and not on human teachers. If the “person” preaching the teaching contradicts the fundamental “Law,” no matter who that person may be, their words must not be accepted.
“Rely on the meaning and not upon the words” means that one should follow the true meaning of the doctrine rather than superficial expressions. Clinging merely to the surface of words without understanding the true meaning of the teaching will lead to grave errors.
“Rely on wisdom and not upon consciousness” means that one should rely on the Buddha’s wisdom and not on the consciousness of bodhisattvas or lesser beings. One must rely on the Buddha’s wisdom, which penetrates the true aspect of all phenomena; the doctrines expounded by bodhisattvas, treatise masters, and human teachers are imperfect and thus termed “consciousness,” and one must not be bound by them.
“Rely on sutras that are complete and final in meaning, and not on those that are not complete and final in meaning” means that one must rely on the complete and final sutras that expound the Middle Way and the true aspect of all phenomena, and not on those that are incomplete and provisional. In Shakyamuni’s Buddhism, the complete and final sutra is the true scripture, the Lotus Sutra, while the incomplete sutras refer to the provisional and expedient teachings of the forty-odd years. Therefore, “rely on sutras that are complete and final in meaning, and not on those that are not complete and final in meaning” constitutes the ultimate conclusion of the “Four Reliances on the Law,” which delineate the principles and standards for identifying the correct teaching.
The Daishonin explains the meaning of this passage on the Four Reliances from the Nirvana Sutra as follows: “Do not rely on the words of bodhisattvas and human teachers, but follow the Buddha’s decree. Do not rely on the teachings of the Kegon, Agama, Hodo, and Hannya sutras, nor on Shingon, Zen, or Nembutsu, but embrace the sutra that is complete and final in meaning. The instruction to embrace the sutra of complete and final meaning means that one should embrace the Lotus Sutra.”
Furthermore, “follow the Buddha’s decree” refers to Shakyamuni Buddha’s declaration among the three categories of preaching—past, present, and future—that “Among the sutras I have preached, now preach, and will preach, this Lotus Sutra is foremost.”