Chapter2(Revealing That Japan Is the Country Where the Lotus Sutra Is to Be Propagated)
Question: Observing Japan at the present time, we see that the obstacles presented by the five impurities are very grave, that quarrels and disputes occur incessantly, and that people’s minds are consumed with anger and their thoughts filled with jealousy. In such a country and at such a time as this, what sutra ought to be propagated?
Answer: This is a country in which the Lotus Sutra should be propagated. Therefore, the Lotus Sutra itself says, “I will cause it to be widely propagated throughout Jambudvīpa and will see that it never comes to an end.”
The Treatise on the Stages of Yoga Practice states that there is a small country situated to the northeast where the Mahayana teachings of the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law should be spread. And the Reverend Annen states, “This refers to our country of Japan.” From the point of view of India, Japan is indeed situated to the northeast.
Moreover, the Supervisor of Priests Eshin states in his Essentials of the One Vehicle Teaching, “Throughout Japan, all people share the same capacity to attain Buddhahood through the perfect teaching. Whether at court or in the countryside, whether far or near, all alike turn to the single vehicle; and whether priests or lay believers, whether eminent or humble, all can hope to attain Buddhahood.”
The meaning of this passage is that the people of Japan, whether they live in Kyoto, Kamakura, Tsukushi, Chinzei, or Michinoku, whether they live nearby or far away, are endowed with the capacity to attain Buddhahood solely through the one vehicle teaching of the Lotus Sutra, and that Japan is therefore a country where high and low, eminent and humble, those who observe the precepts and those who break them, men and women alike, can all attain Buddhahood through the Lotus Sutra. Just as there are no ordinary stones in the K’un-lun Mountains and no poisons on the mountain island of P’eng-lai, so Japan is purely and wholly a country of the Lotus Sutra.
And yet we find people who, while declaring with their mouths that the Lotus is inherently a wonderful sutra and that no one could therefore refuse to take faith in it, nevertheless spend night and day, morning and evening, reciting the name of Amida Buddha. They are like people who sing the praises of a particular medicine and yet morning and evening dose themselves on poison.
Or there are those who declare that the Nembutsu and the Lotus Sutra are essentially one. They are like persons who claim that ordinary stones are the same as gems, senior monks identical to junior monks, and poison equivalent to medicine.
In addition, there are many who hate, envy, resent, slander, despise, and look down on the Lotus Sutra. The sutra says, “It will face much hostility in the world and be difficult to believe.” It also says, “Since hatred and jealousy toward this sutra abound even when the Thus Come One is in the world, how much more will this be so after his passing?” These predictions of the sutra have come about without the slightest deviation.
Therefore, the Great Teacher Dengyō writes in his commentary: “Speaking of the age, [the propagation of the true teaching will begin] in the age when the Middle Day of the Law ends and the Latter Day opens. Regarding the land, it will begin in a land to the east of T’ang and to the west of Katsu. As for the people, it will spread among people stained by the five impurities who live in a time of conflict. The sutra says, ‘Since hatred and jealousy toward this sutra abound even when the Thus Come One is in the world, how much more will this be so after his passing?’ There is good reason for this statement.”
From these passages of the sutra and commentaries, one should know the following: In Japan, in one mountain monastery after another, in temple after temple, at court and in the countryside, in both near and distant regions, though scriptural teachings other than the Lotus Sutra, such as those of the True Word, Zen, Precepts, and Nembutsu schools, are being propagated, these are not teachings that suit the country, or that conform to the Buddha’s true intention, nor can they free us from the sufferings of birth and death.
Notes
6. The Great Collection Sutra describes the last five-hundred-year period, corresponding to the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law, as a time when quarrels and disputes will occur among rival schools and the pure Law, or Shakyamuni’s Buddhism, will be lost. This period is termed the “age of conflict.”
7. Lotus Sutra, chap. 28.
8. No such passage appears in the extant version of The Treatise on the Stages of Yoga Practice. However, Annen’s Extensive Commentary on the Universally Bestowed Bodhisattva Precepts attributes a similar statement to this work.
9. On the Universally Bestowed Bodhisattva Precepts.
10. Tsukushi is an ancient name for what is presently Fukuoka Prefecture or the entire island of Kyushu. Chinzei is also an ancient name for Kyushu. Michinoku is an ancient name for northeastern Japan. Also called Mutsu.
11. Lotus Sutra, chap. 14.
12. Ibid., chap. 10.
13. Outstanding Principles.
Lecture
Secondly, the question is raised as to which sutra should be propagated in Japan, a land where the five impurities are rampant and the age of conflict prevails, clarifying that the Lotus Sutra alone should be spread in the Japan of the Latter Day of the Law.
Japan at that time was heavily plagued by the five impurities, caught in the age of conflict, and populated by living beings with raging anger and intense jealousy. In such a land and at such a time, which sutra should be propagated?
In the “Expedient Means” (second) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, it is stated: “The Buddhas appear in evil worlds of five impurities. These are the impurity of the age, the impurity of desire, the impurity of living beings, the impurity of view, and the impurity of life span.”
Moreover, the Great Collection Sutra prophesies that the Latter Day of the Law will be a time of “quarrels and disputes, and the pure Law becoming obscured and lost”—that is, an age of conflict in which disputes arise incessantly within Shakyamuni’s Buddhism and the efficacy of his teachings is lost.
This question is understood to imply: Is there a powerful Buddhist teaching capable of saving the living beings of such an evil age and evil land, where the five impurities run rampant and Shakyamuni’s Buddhism declines?
Answer: It is a country where the Lotus Sutra should be propagated. The reason is that the Lotus Sutra states: “I will cause it to be widely propagated throughout Jambudvipa so that it will never be cut off,” and so forth. In the Yogachara Treatise (Yogacarabhumi-shastra), it is recorded: “In the northeast corner, there is a small country where the Mahayana Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law should be propagated.” The prelate Annen stated: “This refers to our country of Japan,” and so forth. Japan indeed lies in the northeast corner from India. Furthermore, Supervisor of Priests Eshin (Genshin) states in The Essentials of the One Vehicle (Ichijo yoketsu): “The entire province of Japan possesses purely the capacity for the perfect teaching. Both court and countryside, near and far, equally take refuge in the One Vehicle, and priests and laity, high and low, all look forward to attaining Buddhahood.” The meaning of this passage is that in Japan—whether in Kyoto, Kamakura, Tsukushi, Chinzei, or Michinoku, near or far—there are only people with the capacity for the Lotus One Vehicle; it is a country where high and low, noble and base, those who uphold the precepts and those who break them, men and women alike, should without exception attain Buddhahood through the Lotus Sutra. Just as there are no ordinary stones on Mount Kunlun and no poison on Mount Penglai, Japan is purely a country of the Lotus Sutra.
In response to that question, he answers that the Lotus Sutra is the only Law capable of saving the living beings of such an evil land and evil time.
He then cites textual evidence from the Lotus Sutra and other sources. In the “Encouragements of the Bodhisattva Universal Worthy” (twenty-eighth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, it is taught: “After the Tathagata’s passing, I will cause it to be widely propagated throughout Jambudvipa so that it will never be cut off.” This is because “Jambudvipa” includes Japan.
Next, he cites the passage attributed to Bodhisattva Maitreya from the Yogacarabhumi-shastra: “In the northeast corner, there is a small country where the Mahayana Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law should be propagated.”
While such a passage is not found in the current text of the Yogacarabhumi-shastra, a work of the Japanese Tendai school entitled Futsū ju bosatsukai kōshaku (Broad Commentary on Conferring the Bodhisattva Precepts Universally) also states, “The Yogachara Treatise says: ‘In the east there is a country that possesses solely the great capacity. Could this not be our country?'” It is therefore thought that such a passage existed in variant manuscripts of the treatise.
Annen also states in the preface of the Futsū kōshaku: “Bodhisattva Maitreya taught, saying: ‘To the east is a small country wherein there are only people of the Mahayana seed nature; this refers to our country of Japan.'”
Japan lies in the northeast direction from “Tenjiku,” or India; therefore, the “country inhabited solely by living beings of the Mahayana capacity” in the Yogachara Treatise corresponds to Japan.
Here, “great capacity” (daiki) refers to the capacity for the Mahayana, meaning the capacity to believe in, understand, and practice the Mahayana sutras, or living beings who possess such capacity.
“Mahayana seed nature” (daijō no shūjō) bears the same meaning as “great capacity,” denoting those who possess the inherent qualities and capacity to receive the Mahayana teachings and attain enlightenment, or their lineage and race.
In this context, the Mahayana means the Lotus Sutra, and in the Latter Day of the Law, it corresponds to Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which is the Lotus Sutra of planting.
Furthermore, Eshin of the Japanese Tendai school states in The Essentials of the One Vehicle: “The entire province of Japan possesses purely the capacity for the perfect teaching. Both court and countryside, near and far, equally take refuge in the One Vehicle. Priests and laity, noble and base, all look forward to attaining Buddhahood.”
The Daishonin explains that the intent of this passage is that Japan has only living beings with the capacity for the Lotus One Vehicle, and is a country where all of them without exception should attain Buddhahood through the Lotus Sutra.
He further asserts, “Just as there are no ordinary stones on Mount Kunlun and no poison on Mount Penglai, Japan is purely a country of the Lotus Sutra,” conclusively declaring that the living beings of Japan can attain Buddhahood through the Lotus Sutra alone.
Yet, those who say in words, “The Lotus Sutra is originally a wondrous sutra, so who would not believe in it?” while chanting the Nembutsu of Amida day and night, morning and evening, are like people who praise medicine as marvelous while taking poison day and night. Or those who say, “The Nembutsu and the Lotus Sutra are one and the same,” are like people who say that stones and gems, nobles and commoners, poison and medicine, are all one and the same.
Nevertheless, the people of Japan in reality praise the Lotus Sutra while chanting the Nembutsu, claim that the Nembutsu and the Lotus Sutra are no different, and even harbor malice and jealousy toward the Lotus Sutra.
The statement, “those who say in words, ‘The Lotus Sutra is originally a wondrous sutra, so who would not believe in it?’ while chanting the Nembutsu of Amida day and night, morning and evening,” indicates that there were indeed people within the Nembutsu school at that time who made such claims.
Furthermore, in The Relative Merit of Reciting the Daimokuand Amida’s Name , the Daishonin states: “The Nembutsu believers of the present time say that they surely have no intention of attacking the Lotus Sutra. The reason they recite the Nembutsu is so that they can quickly gain rebirth in the World of Perfect Bliss, and there devote themselves to achieving an understanding of the Lotus Sutra. Moreover, they say that the Lotus Sutra is not suited to persons like them, whose bodies are defiled by impurity, and that it fills them with awe. The Nembutsu, on the other hand, does not discriminate against those who are defiled, and that is why they recite it. How would you reply to these assertions?” (WND-2, p. 999). In this manner, praising the Lotus Sutra while chanting the Nembutsu was a common practice at that time.
Against this, he refutes: “But although I, Nichiren, have searched everywhere throughout the teachings set forth by the Buddha in the course of his lifetime, I cannot find any passage that would lend support to these two assertions.
The fact is that in recent years both the Nembutsu priests and the others who are regarded as distinguished Buddhist teachers noted for their wisdom, when the moment of death approached, have been unable to achieve what they had hoped for, and the reason is that they are guilty of great slander of the Law. People believe that by reciting the Nembutsu they can be reborn in the Pure Land and there gain an understanding of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, while they are in this land of impurity, they deceive persons who devote themselves to the practice of the Lotus Sutra, causing them to discard such practice and instead to devote themselves to the Nembutsu. The fundamental slander of the Law committed by such persons is based on this argument regarding rebirth in the Pure Land.” (WND-2, p. 999).
He describes those who advocate such erroneous doctrines and chant the Nembutsu as being “like people who praise medicine as marvelous while taking poison day and night.” No matter how much they praise the Lotus Sutra as good medicine, in actually chanting the Nembutsu they commit grave slander of the Law; this is the same as drinking poison, and they will sink into the sufferings of hell.
Regarding the statement, “those who say, ‘The Nembutsu and the Lotus Sutra are one and the same,'” the Daishonin writes in The Relative Merit of Reciting the Daimokuand Amida’s Name: “Or again there are certain persons who are thought by the world to be very wise. But although in outward appearance they are persons of wisdom, inwardly they have no real understanding of Buddhism, and therefore they assert that the Nembutsu and the Lotus Sutra are the same thing, and that when one recites the words Namu-Amida-butsu, one has in effect read the entire Lotus Sutra.
Nowhere in all the sutras preached during the Buddha’s lifetime is there a single word or phrase to support such a view. ” (WND-2, p. 997).
In other words, the false doctrine that chanting the Nembutsu is identical to reading the Lotus Sutra was also widespread. Those who chant the Nembutsu based on such false doctrines are, as he states, “like people who say that poison and medicine are all one and the same.” Even if they believe it to be the same as medicine, poison remains poison; thus, chanting the Nembutsu will inevitably result in sinking into suffering.
Moreover, there are only many people who resent, envy, hate, slander, disparage, and despise the Lotus Sutra. The sutra states: “It will face much hostility in the world and be difficult to believe.” It also states: “Even during the Tathagata’s lifetime, there was much hostility and jealousy; how much more so after his passing?” These passages from the sutra apply without the slightest discrepancy. Therefore, the Great Teacher Dengyo explained in his commentary: “Speaking of the age, it is the end of the Middle Day and the beginning of the Latter Day. Seeking the place, it is east of China and west of the nomadic lands. Examining the people, it is a time of living beings in the five impurities and the age of conflict. The sutra states: ‘There will be much hostility and jealousy; how much more so after his passing?’ Truly, these words are with good reason.” From these scriptural passages and commentaries, one should know that even though the teachings of the Shingon, Zen, Ritsu, and Nembutsu schools other than the Lotus Sutra are spread among mountains, temples, the court, and the countryside, both near and far throughout Japan, they are not the teachings that properly accord with the country, conform to the Buddha’s true intention, and enable living beings to transcend birth and death.
Aside from such Nembutsu practitioners, there were at that time numerous people who envied and resented the Lotus Sutra—hating, slandering, scorning, and despising those who practiced it. The entire nation united in slandering the Lotus Sutra and persecuting its practitioners.
The Daishonin states that this condition matches “without the slightest discrepancy” the passage in the “Peaceful Practices” (fourteenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, “It will face much hostility in the world and be difficult to believe,” and the passage in the “Teacher of the Law” (tenth) chapter, “Yet even during the lifetime of the Tathagata, this sutra met with much hostility and jealousy. How much more so after his passing?”
This phenomenon occurred particularly as a result of the appearance of Nichiren Daishonin as the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra.
The Daishonin further cites a passage from the Great Teacher Dengyo’s Hokke Shuku (The Clarification of the Lotus School). Dengyo’s words signify that it is only natural for Japan, where the Lotus Sutra is to be propagated, to show hostility and resentment in terms of the time, the land, and the impurity of the people’s lives; thus, the sutra’s phrase “how much more so after his passing” is truly spoken with good reason.
From these sutra passages and commentaries, it is clear that people turning against the Lotus Sutra and embracing erroneous teachings is precisely as the Buddha predicted. The Daishonin concludes that the various schools and temples spread throughout Japan other than the Lotus Sutra—such as Shingon, Zen, Ritsu, and Nembutsu—are plainly not teachings through which all living beings can transcend birth and death and attain Buddhahood.