The Teaching, Practice, and Proof

2025.04.10

 

The Teaching, Practice, and Proof

Background

In the fifth month, 1274, Nichiren Daishonin left Kamakura and went to live in a small dwelling in the wilderness of Mount Minobu. Here he continued to write letters and other documents, trained his disciples, and lectured on the Lotus Sutra. From this time, his disciples, centering around Nikkō, took the leadership in propagation activities.

This letter is generally thought to have been written at Minobu in the third month of the twelfth year of Bun’ei (1275). It contains the Daishonin’s reply to questions from Sammi-bō, one of the Daishonin’s leading disciples, concerning his preparations for a religious debate.

Sammi-bō was noted for his eloquence and learning. He was a priest who had studied on Mount Hiei, delivered lectures for the aristocracy in Kyoto, and was for a while active in helping spread the Daishonin’s teachings. The Daishonin, however, chided him on several occasions for his arrogance. During the Atsuhara Persecution of 1279, he forsook his faith and is said to have met a tragic death, although the precise details are not known.

In this letter, Nichiren Daishonin states that Shakyamuni’s teachings no longer lead to enlightenment in the Latter Day of the Law, and that only Nam-myoho-renge-kyo combines the three elements of teaching, practice, and proof essential to making Buddhism viable. In the opening section, he discusses the Buddha’s teaching, the practice of the teaching, and the proof, that is, the merit—strictly speaking, enlightenment—resulting from practice in the three consecutive periods of the Former, Middle, and Latter Days of the Law. In terms of Hinayana Buddhism, he explains that in the Former Day there are teaching, practice, and proof; in the Middle Day there are teaching and practice but no longer any proof; and in the Latter Day only the teaching remains, and there is neither practice nor proof.

The Daishonin goes on to say that those who attained Buddhahood during Shakyamuni’s lifetime and in the Former and Middle Days of the Law were able to do so because they had already received the seeds of Buddhahood from Shakyamuni in the past and nurtured it over many lifetimes until their capacity for enlightenment had all but matured. For this reason, they were able to gain conspicuous benefit through Shakyamuni’s teachings—that is, they attained enlightenment immediately. In the Latter Day, however, people receive the seeds of Buddhahood for the first time. Because the seeds require a certain period of time to mature, the enlightenment of these people takes a while to become apparent and is therefore called inconspicuous benefit.

Next, asserting the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra, the Daishonin points out the doctrinal errors of the True Word, Nembutsu, and other schools, and urges Sammi-bō to refute their misconceptions fearlessly. Lastly, he stresses the benefit of Myoho-renge-kyo, the core of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra, and predicts that that teaching will spread widely without fail.

 

 

Chapter1(Showing the teaching, practice, and proof in the three Day of the Law)

DURING the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law, those who embraced Hinayana or provisional Mahayana Buddhism as the basis of their faith and practiced these teachings in earnest could generally obtain the benefit of enlightenment. However, though they believed that this benefit had come directly from the sutras on which they had chosen to rely, in light of the Lotus Sutra, no benefit ever originated from any such provisional teachings. The reason [they were able to attain enlightenment] is that all these people had already established a bond with the Lotus Sutra during the lifetime of the Buddha, though the results they gained varied according to whether or not their receptivity had fully matured. Those whose capacity to understand the Lotus Sutra was fully mature attained enlightenment during the lifetime of the Buddha, while those whose capacity was inferior and immature [could not attain enlightenment at that time. But they] reappeared in the Former Day of the Law, and by embracing provisional Mahayana teachings such as the Vimalakīrti, Brahmā Excellent Thought, Meditation, Benevolent Kings, and Wisdom sutras, they gained the same proof of enlightenment as that obtained by those of higher capacity during the Buddha’s lifetime.

Thus the Former Day of the Law possessed all three: teaching, practice, and proof, whereas in the Middle Day of the Law, there were teaching and practice but no longer any proof. Now in the Latter Day of the Law, only the teaching remains; there is neither practice nor proof. There is no longer a single person who has formed a relationship with Shakyamuni Buddha. Those who possessed the capacity to gain enlightenment through either the provisional or true Mahayana sutras have long since disappeared. In this impure and evil age, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of the “Life Span” chapter, the heart of the essential teaching, should be planted as the seeds of Buddhahood for the first time in the hearts of all those who commit the five cardinal sins and slander the correct teaching. This is what is indicated in the “Life Span” chapter where it states, “I will leave this good medicine here. You should take it and not worry that it will not cure you.”

In the past, in the Middle Day of the Law of the Buddha Awesome Sound King, not a single person knew of the three treasures. However, Bodhisattva Never Disparaging appeared, and to all living beings he declared the teaching of twenty-four characters that the Buddha Awesome Sound King had expounded. All those who heard this twenty-four-character teaching, without a single exception, were later reborn with Bodhisattva Never Disparaging, and were at last able to obtain the benefit of enlightenment. This was solely because they had already received the seeds of Buddhahood when they first heard the teaching. The same thing occurs in our present era. Bodhisattva Never Disparaging’s age was the Middle Day of the Law, whereas this age is the defiled Latter Day of the Law. He was a practitioner at the initial stage of rejoicing, and I, Nichiren, am an ordinary practitioner at the stage of hearing the name and words of the truth. He sowed the seeds of Buddhahood with the twenty-four characters, while I do so with only the five characters [of Myoho-renge-kyo]. Although the ages are different, the process of attaining Buddhahood is exactly the same.1

 

Notes

1. That is, in both Bodhisattva Never Disparaging’s time and Nichiren Daishonin’s, people hear and slander the correct teaching, but they are eventually able to attain Buddhahood by virtue of the bond they have thereby formed with it.

 

 

Chapter2(The Lotus Sutra will spread throughout the ten thousand years of the Latter Day)

Question: You have mentioned above that the teaching, practice, and proof are not all present in each of the three periods of the Former, Middle, and Latter Days of the Law. If so, how do you explain the Great Teacher Miao-lo’s statement, “The beginning of the Latter Day of the Law will not be without inconspicuous benefit, for it is the time when the great teaching will be propagated”?2

Answer: The meaning of this passage is that those who obtained benefit during the Former and Middle Days of the Law received “conspicuous” benefit, because the relationship they formed with the Lotus Sutra during the lifetime of the Buddha had finally matured. On the other hand, those born today in the Latter Day of the Law receive the seeds of Buddhahood for the first time, and their benefit is therefore “inconspicuous.” The teaching, practice, and proof of this age differ greatly from those of Hinayana, provisional Mahayana, the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings, or the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra. There is no one now who can gain benefits [like those of the Former and Middle Days of the Law]. According to Miao-lo’s commentary, the benefits in the Latter Day are inconspicuous, and people can therefore neither perceive nor understand them.

Question: Is there any sutra passage which says that inconspicuous benefits are limited to the Latter Day of the Law?

Answer: A passage from the “Medicine King” chapter in the seventh volume of the Lotus Sutra reads: “This sutra provides good medicine for the ills of the people of Jambudvīpa. If a person who has an illness is able to hear this sutra, then his illness will be wiped out and he will know neither old age nor death.” The Great Teacher Miao-lo says: “To regard the last five-hundred-year period after the Buddha’s passing as the time when no one can attain benefit is a superficial viewpoint. The beginning of the Latter Day of the Law will not be without inconspicuous benefit, for it is the time when the great teaching will be propagated. The last five-hundred-year period corresponds to that time.”3

Question: The passages you have quoted indicate that the propagation of the Lotus Sutra is limited to the first five hundred years of the Latter Day of the Law. Yet the provisional Mahayana sutras say that their practices will still be appropriate throughout the ten thousand years of the Latter Day of the Law. How do you reply to this?

Answer: The above-mentioned commentary states that such an interpretation of the last five-hundred-year period is “superficial.” From a more profound viewpoint, the Lotus Sutra will spread throughout the ten thousand years of the Latter Day. The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai comments on the previously quoted sutra passage, stating: “It is not only the people who live during the Buddha’s lifetime who obtain great benefits. In the last five-hundred-year period, the mystic way will spread and benefit humankind far into the future.”4 Does this Annotation suggest anything other than the ten thousand years of the Latter Day of the Law? The “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter in the sixth volume of the Lotus Sutra states, “In the evil age of the Latter Day of the Law if there is someone who can uphold this sutra . . .” Also the “Peaceful Practices” chapter reads, “In the Latter Day of the Law, if one wishes to preach this sutra . . .” These quotations refer to [the propagation of the Lotus Sutra in] the ten thousand years of the Latter Day of the Law. All the Buddha’s teachings other than the Lotus Sutra are covered by his declaration: “In these more than forty years, I have not yet revealed the truth.”5 Moreover, there are some cases where the sutras have been revised according to the understanding of those who compiled them and therefore cannot be trusted.

The scholars of the various schools remain oblivious to the fact that the Buddha sowed the seeds of enlightenment when he expounded the Lotus Sutra in the past. How foolish they are! Quite unaware of the distant past, major world system dust particle kalpas ago or numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago, they abandon the wonderful teaching that is pure and perfect, and sink again into the sea of the sufferings of birth and death. It is pitiful beyond description that, though born in a land where the people’s capacity to receive the perfect teaching is fully mature, they vainly fall back into the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering. They are no different from a person who arrives at the bejeweled K’un-lun Mountains only to return to his impoverished country without a single gem, or one who enters a forest of sandalwood trees, yet goes back to the shards and rubble of one’s own land without ever plucking the aromatic champaka6 blossom. The third volume of the Lotus Sutra reads, “Suppose that someone coming from a land of famine should suddenly encounter a great king’s feast.”7 And the sixth volume reads, “This, my land, remains safe and tranquil . . . My pure land is not destroyed.”8

 

Notes

2. The Annotations on “The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra.”

3. Ibid.

4. The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra.

5. Immeasurable Meanings Sutra.

6. A large tree with leaves about twenty centimeters long and golden blossoms whose aroma can be smelled from a distance.

7. Lotus Sutra, chap. 6.

8. Ibid., chap. 16.

 

 

Chapter3(Refuting the assertion that people can partially achieve the way through their practice of the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings)

In your letter you mentioned a difficult question put to you as to the assertion that people can partially achieve the way through their practice of the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings. In reply, you should quote the third volume of the Nirvana Sutra that reads, “Good men, study and practice [until you learn that the three treasures are one and eternal].” Further, quote the third volume of The Annotations on “Great Concentration and Insight” that comments on this passage where it states, “Only those who have heard the Mahayana teachings in the remote past [can attain the way through practicing the Hinayana teachings],” and “Those who gained the way through the practice of the various sutras expounded before the Lotus were able to do so only because of their initial practice in the remote past.”9 Thus you should make clear that the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings provide no benefit of enlightenment whatsoever. Then explain that the same principle holds true in the time of propagation following the Buddha’s passing. All who obtained proof of enlightenment in the Former and Middle Days of the Law did so solely because of the relationship they had formed with the Lotus Sutra during the Buddha’s lifetime.

Should your opponents repeatedly insist that the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings provide a path to enlightenment, cite to them the Buddha’s own declaration in the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra: “In these more than forty years, I have not yet revealed the truth.” Ordinary people like ourselves at the stage of hearing the name and words of the truth can expect to attain Buddhahood by relying on the teachings of the Buddha. The words of the various teachers are in themselves of no use at all. The Buddha gave strict counsel against following them with his statement in the Nirvana Sutra, “Rely on the Law and not upon persons.” Remind your opponents of this, and repeatedly cite the passage, “I have not yet revealed the truth,” to refute their arguments. However, do not carelessly cite such passages as “Honestly discarding expedient means, [I will preach only the unsurpassed way]”10 and “The World-Honored One has long expounded his doctrines [and now must reveal the truth].”11 Rather, keep these teachings in your heart, and never quote them without good reason.

Another difficult question you mentioned concerns the assertion that attaining the way indicated in the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings and that of the Lotus Sutra are ultimately the same. This question arises because the Meditation Sutra says that those who rely upon it will be reborn in the Pure Land. In reply, you should say that similar assertions can be found in other sutras, and cite again the teaching, “In these more than forty years, I have not yet revealed the truth,” and others, such as “[The Buddha preaches so as an expedient means], merely employing provisional names and terms.”12 If they further contend that the Meditation Sutra and the Lotus Sutra were expounded during the same period of time, you should deal with this by quoting the passage from the “Teacher of the Law” chapter in which the Buddha says, “Among the sutras I have preached, now preach, and will preach, [this Lotus Sutra is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand].” You can also quote relevant passages from the third volume of The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra13 or the third volume of The Annotations on “The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra.”14 Be sure, however, that you consider these sutras and commentaries well, and do not quote them haphazardly.

 

Notes

9. A rephrasing of a passage in The Annotations on “Great Concentration and Insight.”

10. Lotus Sutra, chap. 2.

11. Ibid.

12. Ibid.

13. The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra reads, “Whether one rejects or accepts [the Buddha’s teachings], one should in all cases do so from the standpoint of the Lotus Sutra.”

14. The Annotations on “The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra” reads, “In evaluating the Buddhist sutras, one should judge on the basis of the Lotus Sutra whether to reject or accept them, because the Lotus Sutra is the single source from which all the other teachings come and to which they return.”

 

 

Chapter4(Refuting the True Word school’s distorted views)

In your letter you also mentioned the claims of the True Word school. First, ask upon which scriptural passage the Great Teacher Kōbō based his denunciation of the Lotus Sutra as a doctrine of childish theory and of Shakyamuni as being still in the region of darkness. If they reply by citing some sutra, ask them which of the Buddhas of the three existences is represented by the Thus Come One Mahāvairochana. Then, ask them if they are aware of the deceit perpetrated by such priests as the Tripitaka masters Shan-wu-wei and Chin-kang-chih. Tell them how Shan-wu-wei deceived the priest I-hsing when he dictated to him his commentary on the Mahāvairochana Sutra.15 Although not the slightest indication of three thousand realms in a single moment of life is to be found in the Mahāvairochana Sutra, this false interpretation stating that it is was put forth when the sutra was introduced to China. As regards the most perverted of their distortions, ask them if there is documentary proof in the teachings of any of the Buddhas of the three existences that permits them to tread on the head of Vairochana Buddha.16 If they retort in some way or other, then tell them about the Great Arrogant Brahmān who used statues [of the three deities of Brahmanism17 and of the Buddha Shakyamuni] as the legs of his preaching platform. On other points, ask them in the same way just which sutra or treatise they can provide as proof of their assertions, and for the rest, debate with them as I have always taught you. No matter which school you may debate, if the teachings of the True Word school are mentioned, clearly refute that school’s distorted views.

 

Notes

15. In his compilation of Shan-wu-wei’s commentaries on the Mahāvairochana Sutra, I-hsing made it appear as if core doctrines of the T’ien-t’ai school, such as the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, were part of the True Word teachings. Nichiren Daishonin explains the deception referred to here in more detail in The Selection of the Time (pp. 564–65).

16. This refers apparently to the initiation rituals conducted in esoteric Buddhism in which candidates toss flowers on a mandala depicting various Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and other figures to determine with which figure they have a special relationship. It appears that, as part of the ritual, priests trod on the images. Here Vairochana Buddha refers to Shakyamuni Buddha.

17. The three deities of Brahmanism are Maheshvara, Vasudeva, and Nārāyana. Maheshvara was said to be a god who reigns over the major world system.

 

 

Chapter5(Refuting the Nembutsu School’s distorted views)

Next, as to the assertions of the Nembutsu school: The Dharma Teacher T’an-luan defines the Nembutsu as the easy-to-practice way and the practices of the other schools as the difficult-to-practice way. Tao-ch’o defines the Nembutsu teachings as the Pure Land teachings and all the other teachings as the Sacred Way teachings. Shan-tao distinguishes between correct and sundry practices, while Hōnen enjoins people to “discard, close, ignore, and abandon”18 all sutras other than those relating to Amida’s Pure Land. Have those who cite these statements identify the exact sutra or treatise from which they are derived. Of sutras there are of course two types—true and provisional. Treatises can also be divided into two types—those that discuss Hinayana, Mahayana, or Buddhism in general, and those dealing with specific sutras or chapters. Moreover, there are those treatises that are faithful to the sutras and those that distort the sutras. One should clearly master these distinctions. Ask them if, from among the three Pure Land sutras, they can point out any passage verifying the above-mentioned assertions. Everyone chants the Nembutsu and praises Amida Buddha, but ask your opponents as before if there exists any teaching that affords a solid basis for this. In short, let them cite the sutra or treatise on which the adherents of the Nembutsu school in both China and Japan base their denunciation of the Lotus Sutra as a sundry practice, urging people to discard, close, ignore, and abandon it. When they fail to cite any passage that clearly validates these statements, tell them that, just as expounded in the “Simile and Parable” chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the grave offense they commit by slandering the true teaching on the basis of provisional teachings will surely plunge them into the great citadel of the Avīchi hell, where they will be reborn again and again for a countless number of kalpas. Let the audience judge for themselves the seriousness of the offense that derives from following the partial and mistaken doctrines of their school and forsaking the very teaching that all Buddhas of the three existences verified with the words: “All that you [Shakyamuni Buddha] have expounded is the truth!”19 Could any thinking person fail to discern which is true and which is false? Then, strictly denounce the teachers of their school.

 

Notes

18. Hōnen does not use these words in this particular form, however. Nichiren Daishonin took these words from The Nembutsu Chosen above All and put them together as a set.

19. Lotus Sutra, chap. 11. In the sutra, these words are actually spoken by the Buddha Many Treasures. However, because all Buddhas do in fact verify the Lotus Sutra in the “Supernatural Powers” chapter, the Daishonin attributes this statement to all the Buddhas.

 

 

Chapter6(Listing the actual proof and revealing the slander of the various schools)

How naive are those who cling only to the stump20 of one sutra without knowing which are superior and which inferior among all the sutras! Even if one cannot [read all the sutras and] discern this for oneself, there can be no mistaking that the Lotus Sutra is the only sutra whose truth was attested to by Shakyamuni Buddha, Many Treasures, and the Buddhas who are Shakyamuni’s emanations. Should one nonetheless view the Lotus Sutra as false and misread the Buddha’s words “I have not yet revealed the truth” as “I have already revealed the truth,” one’s distorted vision would be inferior even to that of cattle or sheep. Exactly what is meant by the passage in the “Teacher of the Law” chapter: “Among the sutras I have preached, now preach, and will preach, this Lotus Sutra is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand”? Does the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra not make it clear that Shakyamuni taught the practice of Buddhist austerities spanning myriads of kalpas before declaring, “In these more than forty years, I have not yet revealed the truth”? These passages are nothing less than the Buddha’s own statements of the relative superiority of the various sutras he expounded during his some fifty years of teaching. The relative superiority of the sutras corresponds to whether or not they lead to Buddhahood.

Jikaku and Chishō held the view that, although the Lotus Sutra and the Mahāvairochana Sutra are equal in terms of principle, the latter is superior in terms of practice. Shan-tao and Hōnen maintained that no practice other than the Nembutsu suits the capacity of the people in the Latter Day. The Zen school claims to represent a special transmission apart from the sutras. Their views are as distorted as the eyesight of a person who mistakes east for west, or who cannot tell north from south. Their understanding is inferior to that of cattle or sheep, and their teachings are as ambiguous as a bat [that appears to be neither animal nor bird]. How could they not feel terror at defying the Buddha’s words: “Rely on the Law and not upon persons” and “[If a person fails to have faith but] instead slanders this sutra, [immediately he will destroy all the seeds for becoming a Buddha in this world]”?21 They must have been possessed by evil demons, or become drunk on the bad liquor of inner darkness.

Nothing is more certain than actual proof. Look at the sudden death of Shan-wu-wei and the unexpected disaster that beset I-hsing, or how Kōbō and Jikaku died. Could they have met such horrible fates if they were actually votaries of the correct teaching? How do you read the Meditation on the Buddha’s Ocean-like Characteristics Sutra22 and other sutras, or Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna’s treatise23 that describes the state of death? The Meditation Master I-hsing incorporated Shan-wu-wei’s deceptions into his explanation of the Mahāvairochana Sutra. Kōbō denounced the Lotus Sutra as a doctrine of childish theory. Jikaku contended that the Mahāvairochana Sutra was equal to the Lotus Sutra in terms of principle, but superior in terms of practice. T’an-luan and Tao-ch’o proclaimed that the Nembutsu alone suits the people’s capacity in the Latter Day. Such views are commonplace in the false teachings of schools founded on provisional sutras. No one would wish to die as these people did. Say these things mildly but firmly in a quiet voice with a calm gaze and an even expression.

 

Notes

20. Reference is to a story in Han Fei Tzu in which a farmer, planting his field, saw a rabbit run into a stump and break its neck. He abandoned his farming and stood guard by the stump, expecting to catch other rabbits. Here the Daishonin uses the “stump” to signify attachment to the provisional teachings without being able to distinguish between superior and inferior sutras.

21. Lotus Sutra, chap. 3.

22. There is no extant sutra by this name. It may refer to the Meditation on the Buddha Sutra, which tells of a monk who fell into the Avīchi hell for confusing correct and incorrect teachings.

23. The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom, which reads in part, “One whose countenance turns dark at the moment of death will fall into hell.”

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