“This Is What I Heard”

This is what I heard. The heart of each sutra is contained in its title. All teachings are encompassed in the single title.

The Lyrics of this song

This Is What I Heard. A golden lotus glows with boundless light. Its heart contains the wisdom of all time. The moon reflects this truth for humble souls. Myoho-renge-kyo

Background

“This is what I heard” is the phrase that appears at the beginning of many sutras. The sutras are records of Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings that were committed first to memory and later to writing by his disciples. The above phrase, therefore, represents a testimony to the validity of what was about to be set down in writing in the form of a sutra, but here the Daishonin explains its more profound meaning. T’ien-t’ai said, “The word ‘this’ [of ‘This is what I heard’] indicates the essence of a doctrine heard from the Buddha.” The essence of each sutra is represented by its title. And the title, or essence, of the Lotus Sutra, Myoho-renge-kyo, is Buddhism’s supreme teaching. Hence Miao-lo explained T’ien-t’ai’s words, saying, “If ‘this’ is not the teaching that surpasses the eight teachings, then how can it be considered the teaching of this [Lotus] sutra?”

In this letter, Nichiren Daishonin emphasizes that Myoho-renge-kyo, the title of the Lotus Sutra, is the essence of not only the Lotus, but all the other sutras as well. He compares it to the main cord of a net, which gathers the “meshes of the eight teachings.” This also means that, when viewed from the standpoint of the Lotus Sutra, all the other sutras and the teachings they contain have value and can be used to explain and propagate the Lotus Sutra’s essence, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Finally he cites Chang-an’s interpretation of T’ien-t’ai’s statement in the preface to The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra and concludes: “Myoho-renge-kyo is neither the scriptural text nor its meaning, but the heart of the entire [Lotus] sutra.”

This letter also explains why the people refused to believe in the title of the Lotus Sutra, its most profound principle. They failed to grasp its significance based on the relative superiority of the various teachings, but instead judged it according to the status of priests who preached those teachings. It was not these exalted teachers of Buddhism but a humble priest, Nichiren Daishonin, who had expounded the Law of Myoho-renge-kyo.