On the Importance of the “Expedient Means” and “Life Span” Chapters—Chapter5
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The “Expedient Means” chapter constitutes the heart of the theoretical teaching. In this chapter the Buddha expounds the doctrine of the ten factors and the true aspect of all phenomena, and makes clear how living beings in the Ten Worlds can attain Buddhahood.
When Shāriputra hears this, he is able to cut off the illusions about the true nature of existence9 and attains the level at which he comprehends the true cause for enlightenment. Moreover, he is assured that in the future he will become a Buddha called Flower Glow Thus Come One, a moon of enlightenment shining in the dawn sky of the realm called Free from Stain.
This represents the first step in the attainment of Buddhahood by the living beings of the Ten Worlds. But the Nembutsu believers and True Word priests of the present time believe that the attainment of Buddhahood can be achieved only through the sutras that they themselves rely on, clinging assiduously to their belief and refusing to familiarize themselves with the doctrines of the Lotus Sutra. They cling to the prophecies of the attainment of Buddhahood that are prophecies in name only, set forth in sutras preached when the Buddha had “not yet revealed the truth.”10
In the past you always mistakenly adhered to these same doctrines, but now you have listened to my doctrines and become wise. Not only have you speedily repudiated your earlier beliefs and embraced those of the Lotus Sutra, but in fact you now look on this sutra as dearer to you than life and limb. This is the most wonderful of wonders! Such an occurrence cannot be adequately explained in terms of your present existence alone, but must have its origin in your relationship with the sutra in past existences—only thus can it be understood. Marvelous, truly marvelous!
Speaking next of the “Life Span” chapter, it constitutes the heart of the essential teaching, and in fact the heart of the entire Lotus Sutra. Not only is it the heart of all the sacred teachings of the Buddha’s lifetime, but it embodies the most important message conveyed in all the ceremonies on the preaching of the Law conducted by the Buddhas of the three existences of past, present, and future. This is because in the “Life Span” chapter Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, reveals the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, which he has come to understand and which is equal to the inner enlightenment of all the Buddhas of the three existences.
This doctrine thus represents not only the personal enlightenment attained by a single Buddha, Shakyamuni, but the enlightenment of all other Buddhas as well. We living beings, who from time immemorial have floundered in the waves of the six paths of birth and death, now encounter the Lotus Sutra preached by Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, because in a past existence we listened to the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life that is found in this “Life Span” chapter, the doctrine the Buddha realized when he originally attained enlightenment in the far remote past. It is a most wonderful doctrine!
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Background
This is Nichiren Daishonin’s reply to a letter from his follower Ōta Saemon-no-jō, also known as Ōta Jōmyō, who lived in Shimōsa Province. From the content it is clear that in 1278 Ōta sent offerings with a letter to the Daishonin at Minobu. In the letter, Ōta had reported his recent sufferings, physical and spiritual, and his concern that his present age, fifty-seven, was considered a “dangerous year,” or an “unlucky age,” in Japanese and Chinese tradition. He was the same age as the Daishonin.
The Daishonin responds that various sufferings are unavoidable, but that the Lotus Sutra provides “good medicine” to alleviate the sufferings of body and mind.
Suffering is a result of the karma one created in past existences, the Daishonin explains. He then cites the Buddhist principle of the twelve-linked chain of causation, which defines the links of causation between the previous existence and the present, between the present existence and the future.
He also discusses the yin and yang theory of the five agents, sharing some knowledge of a dangerous year with Ōta based on the so-called precept of adapting to local customs.
The Daishonin tells Ōta that he is copying for him two chapters of the Lotus Sutra. They are the second chapter, “Expedient Means,” and the sixteenth, “Life Span,” the core chapters respectively of the theoretical teaching and the essential teaching. He also addresses errors and falsehoods promulgated by the True Word and Flower Garland schools, which stole the T’ien-t’ai school’s principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life. This principle, the Daishonin says, is found only in the Lotus Sutra, and it was expounded by Shakyamuni Buddha when he originally attained enlightenment. The Daishonin identifies himself as “a disciple of the Buddha in his true identity,” that is, as a Bodhisattva of the Earth.
In closing, the Daishonin advises Ōta to trust in him concerning “this year of danger that you face,” and see whether the promises of Shakyamuni and all the other Buddhas made in the Lotus Sutra to protect its believers are trustworthy.