Chapter7(The teachings that are expedient means do not exist in any of the pure lands)
The teachings that are expedient means exist only in this impure land and not in any of the pure lands. The Lotus Sutra states, “In the Buddha lands of the ten directions there is only the Law of the one vehicle, there are not two, there are not three, except when the Buddha preaches so as an expedient means.”6
From this it is easy to determine whether there is any reason to suppose that one may attain Buddhahood by following the expedient means teachings, which do not exist in the Buddha lands of the ten directions, and practicing them in hopes of gaining rebirth in a pure land, while rejecting and despising the Law of the one vehicle, which exists in the pure lands of the ten directions.
The Thus Come One Shakyamuni, the lord who set forth a lifetime of teachings, preached the complete body of the scriptures and left us this declaration. The Buddhas of the three existences all unanimously use the same words and the same intention in the fashion they employ in preaching the teachings. Therefore I too will preach the teachings in this manner, not differing in a single word. As the “Expedient Means” chapter of the Lotus Sutra says, “Following the same fashion that the Buddhas of the three existences employ in preaching the teachings, I now will do likewise, preaching a Law that is without distinctions.”
The Law that is without distinctions is the wonderful Law of the one vehicle. It is the Law that makes no distinctions between good or evil, the Law that preaches that grass and trees, forests, mountains and rivers, the great earth or even one particle of dust all possess within themselves the full Ten Worlds. This one vehicle of the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law present in one’s mind pervades all the pure lands of the ten directions without exception. The blessings that adorn the living beings and the environment in the pure lands of the ten directions are present within one’s own mind and never depart from it for an instant. This is the Thus Come One of original enlightenment, the three bodies that are a single unity, and outside of this there is no Law. This single Law exists within the pure lands of the ten directions, and no other Law exists. Hence it is called a Law without distinctions.
To fail to practice this wonderful Law of the one vehicle, but instead to seize on the expedient means teachings, which do not exist in any form in the pure lands, and hope thereby to attain Buddhahood is the most deluded of delusions.
After Shakyamuni had attained Buddhahood, he then returned to this impure land and, in order to enable the living beings of the impure land to enter the realm of Buddhahood, he gradually led and guided them by preaching the expedient means teachings. This is what is called the teachings intended for the instruction and conversion of others. Hence these are referred to as provisional teachings or as expedient means.
The nature of the doctrines that pertain to the instruction and conversion of others is in general as I have outlined it here.
Notes
6. Lotus Sutra, chap. 2.