The Four Debts of Gratitude
Concerning my present exile, there are two important matters that I must mention. One is that I feel immense joy. As for the reason, this world is called the saha world, saha meaning endurance. This is why the Buddha [who appears in this world] is also called Nonin, "He Who Can Forbear." In the saha world system, there are ten million Mount Sumerus, ten million suns and moons, and ten million groups of four continents. Among all these worlds, it was in the world at the center--with its Mount Sumeru, sun and moon, and four continents -- that the Buddha made his advent. This country of Japan is an islet situated in a remote corner to the northeast of the country in which the Buddha appeared. Since all the lands in the ten directions, with the exception of those in the saha world system, are pure lands, their people, being gentlehearted, neither abuse nor hate the worthies and sages. In contrast, this world is inhabited by people who were rejected from the pure lands in the ten directions. They have committed the ten evil acts or the five cardinal sins, slandered the worthies and sages, and been unfilial to their fathers and mothers or disrespectful to the priests. For these offenses they fell into the three evil paths, and only after dwelling there for countless kalpas were they reborn in this world. Yet the residue of the evil karma formed in their previous existences has not yet been eradicated, and they still tend to perpetrate the ten evil acts or the five cardinal sins, to revile the worthies and sages, and to be undutiful to their fathers and mothers or irreverent toward the priests.
For these reasons, when Shakyamuni Buddha made his advent in this world, some people offered him food into which they had mixed poison. Others tried to harm him by means of swords and staves, mad elephants, lions, fierce bulls or savage dogs. Still others charged him with violating women, condemned him as a man of lowly status, or accused him of killing. Again, some, when they encountered him, covered their eyes to avoid seeing him, and others closed their doors and shuttered their windows. Still others reported to the kings and ministers that he held erroneous views and was given to slandering exalted personages. These incidents are described in the Daijuku Sutra, the Nirvana Sutra and other scriptures. The Buddha was innocent of all such evil deeds. Yet this world is peculiar or deficient in that those with bad karma are born into it and inhabit it in great numbers. Moreover, the Devil of the Sixth Heaven, scheming to prevent the people of this world from going to the pure lands elsewhere, seizes every opportunity to carry out his perverse acts.
It appears that his scheming is ultimately intended to prevent the Buddha from expounding the Lotus Sutra. The reason is that the nature of this devil king is to rejoice at those who create the karma of the three evil paths and to grieve at those who form the karma of the three good paths. He does not lament so greatly over those who form the karma of the three good paths, but he sorrows indeed at those who aspire to the three vehicles. Again, he may not sorrow that much over those who seek to attain the three vehicles, but he grieves bitterly at those who form the karma to become Buddhas, and avails himself of every opportunity to obstruct them. He knows that those who hear even a single sentence or phrase of the Lotus Sutra will attain Buddhahood without fail, and, exceedingly distressed by this, contrives various plots and restrains and persecutes believers, in an attempt to make them abandon their faith.
Although the age in which the Buddha lived was certainly a defiled one, the five impurities had only just begun to manifest themselves, and, in addition, the devil stood in awe of the Buddha's powers. Yet even in a time when the people's greed, anger, stupidity and false views were still not rampant, a group of Brahmans of the Bamboo Staff school killed the Venerable Maudgalyayana, who was known as the foremost in occult powers; and King Ajatashatru, by releasing a mad elephant, threatened the life of him who alone in all the threefold world is worthy of honor. Devadatta killed the nun Utpalavarna, who had attained the state of arhat; and the Venerable Kokalika spread evil rumors about Shariputra, who was renowned for his unsurpassed wisdom. How much worse matters became in the world as the five impurities steadily increased! And now, in the latter age, there will be all the more tremendous hatred and jealousy toward those who believe even slightly in the Lotus Sutra! Thus the Lotus Sutra states, "Since hatred and jealousy abound even during the lifetime of the Buddha, how much worse will it be in the world after his passing!" When I read this passage for the first time, I did not think that the situation would be as bad as it predicts. Now I am struck by the unfailing accuracy of the Buddha's words, especially in light of my present circumstances.
I, Nichiren, do not observe the precepts with my body. Nor is my heart free from the three poisons. But since I myself believe in the Lotus Sutra and also enable others to form a relationship with it, I had thought that perhaps society would treat me rather gently. Probably because the world has entered into the latter age, even monks who have a wife and children have followers, as do priests who eat fish and fowl. I, Nichiren, have neither wife nor children, nor do I eat fish or fowl. I have been blamed merely for trying to propagate the Lotus Sutra. Though I have neither wife nor child, I am known throughout the country as a monk who transgresses the code of conduct, and though I have never killed even a single ant or mole cricket, my bad reputation has spread throughout the realm. This may well resemble the situation of Shakyamuni Buddha, who was slandered by a multitude of Brahmans during his lifetime. It seems that, solely because my faith in the Lotus Sutra accords slightly more with its teachings than does the faith of others, evil demons must have entered their bodies and be causing them to feel hatred toward me. I am nothing but a lowly and ignorant monk without precepts. Yet, when I think that such a person should be mentioned in the Lotus Sutra, which was expounded more than two thousand years ago, and that the Buddha prophesied that that person would encounter persecution, I cannot possibly express my joy.
Its is already twenty-four or twenty-five years since I began studying Buddhism. Yet, as for the Lotus Sutra, I have believed in it wholeheartedly only for the past six or seven years. Moreover, although I had faith in the sutra, because I was negligent, and because of my studies and the interruptions of mundane affairs, each day I would recite only a single scroll, a chapter or the title. Now, however, for a period of more than 240 days--from the twelfth day of the fifth month of last year to the sixteenth day of the first month of this year--I think I have practiced the Lotus Sutra twenty-four hours each day and night. I say so because, having been exiled on the Lotus Sutra's account, I now read and practice it continuously, whether I am walking, standing, sitting or lying down. For anyone born human, what greater joy could there be?
It is the way of common mortals that, even though they spur themselves on to arouse the aspiration for enlightenment and wish for happiness in the next life, they exert themselves no more than one or two out of all the hours of the day, and this only after reminding themselves to do so. As for myself, I read the Lotus Sutra without having to remember to, and practice it even when I do not read its words aloud. During the course of countless kalpas, while transmigrating through the six paths and the four forms of birth, I may at times have risen in revolt, committed theft or broken into others' homes at night, and, on account of these offenses, been convicted by the ruler and condemned to exile or death. This time, however, it is because I am so firmly resolved to propagate the Lotus Sutra that people with evil karma have brought false charges against me; hence my exile. Surely this will work in my favor in future lifetimes. In this latter age, there cannot be anyone else who upholds the Lotus Sutra twenty-four hours of the day and night without making a conscious effort to do so.
There is one other thing for which I am most grateful. While transmigrating in the six paths for the duration of countless kalpas, I may have encountered a number of sovereigns and become their favorite minister or regent. If so, I must have been granted fiefs and accorded treasures and stipends. Never once, however, did I encounter a sovereign in whose country the Lotus Sutra had spread, so that I could hear its name, practice it, and, on that very account, be slandered by other people and have the ruler send me into exile. The Lotus Sutra states, "As for this Lotus Sutra, throughout countless numbers of countries one cannot even hear the name of it, let alone behold it, receive and keep it, or read and recite it!" Thus those people who slandered me and the ruler [who had me banished] are the very persons to whom I owe the most profound debt of gratitude.
One who studies the teachings of Buddhism must not fail to repay the four debts of gratitude. According to the Shinjikan Sutra, the first of the four debts is that owed to all living beings. Were it not for them, one would find it impossible to make the vow to save innumerable living beings. Moreover, but for the evil people who persecute bodhisattvas, how could those bodhisattvas accumulate benefit?
The second of the four debts is that owed to one's father and mother. To be born into the six paths one must have parents. If one is born into the family of a murderer, a thief, a violator of the rules of proper conduct or a slanderer of the Law, then even though he may not commit these offenses himself, he in effect forms the same karma as the persons who do. As for my parents in this lifetime, however, they not only gave me birth, but made me a believer in the Lotus Sutra as well. Thus I owe my present father and mother a debt far greater than I would had I been born into the family of Bonten, Taishaku, one of the Four Heavenly Kings or a wheel-turning king, and so inherited the threefold world or the four continents, and been revered by the four kinds of believers in the worlds of Humanity and Heaven.
The third is the debt owed to one's sovereign. It is thanks to one's sovereign that one is able to warm his body in the three kinds of heavenly light and sustain his life with the five kinds of grain that grow on earth. Moreover, in this lifetime, I have been able to take faith in the Lotus Sutra and to encounter a ruler who will enable me to free myself in my present existence from the sufferings of birth and death. Thus how can I dwell on the insignificant harm that he has done me and overlook my debt to him?
The fourth is the debt owed to the three treasures. When Shakyamuni Buddha was engaged in bodhisattva practices for countless kalpas, he accumulated all manner of good fortune and virtue in himself. This he divided into sixty-four parts, of which he reserved only one part for himself. The remaining sixty-three parts he left behind in this world, making a vow as follows: "There will be an age when the five impurities will become rampant, heresies will flourish, and slanderers will fill the land. At that time, because the innumerable benevolent guardian deities will be unable to taste the flavor of the Dharma, their majesty and strength will diminish. The sun and the moon will lose their brightness, the heavenly dragons will not send down rain, and the earthly deities will decrease the fertility of the soil. The roots and stalks, branches and leaves, flowers and fruit will all lose their medicinal properties as well as the seven flavors. Even kings who have observed the ten good precepts will grow in greed, anger and stupidity. The people will cease to be dutiful to their parents, and the six kinds of relatives will fall out with one another. My disciples will consist of unlearned people without precepts. For this reason, even though they shave their heads, they will be forsaken by the tutelary deities and left without any means of subsistence. It is in order to sustain these monks and nuns [that I now leave these sixty-three parts behind]."
Moreover, as for the benefits that the Buddha had attained as a result of his practices, he divided them into three parts, of which he himself expended only two. For this reason, although he was to have lived in this world until the age of 120, he passed away after 80 years, bequeathing the remaining 40 years of his life span to us.
Even if we should gather all the water of the four great oceans to wet inkstones, burn all the trees and plants to cinders to make ink, collect the hairs of all beasts for writing brushes, employ all the surfaces of the worlds in the ten directions for paper, and, with these, set down expressions of gratitude, how could we possibly repay our debt to the Buddha?
Concerning the debt owed to the Law, the Law is the teacher of all Buddhas. It is because of the Law that the Buddhas are worthy of respect. Therefore, one who wishes to repay his debt to the Buddha must first repay the debt he owes to the Law.
As for the debt owed to the Priesthood, both the treasure of the Buddha and the treasure of the Law are invariably perpetuated by priests. To illustrate, without firewood, there can be no fire, and if there is no earth, trees and plants cannot grow. Likewise, even though Buddhism existed, without the priests who studied it and passed it on, it would never have been transmitted throughout the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days into the Latter Day of the Law. Therefore the Daijuku Sutra states, "Suppose that, in the fifth five-hundred year period, there should be someone who harasses unlearned monks without precepts by accusing them of some offense. You should know that this person is extinguishing the great torch of Buddhism." Difficult to recompense indeed is the debt we owe to the Priesthood!
Thus it is imperative that one repay one's debt of gratitude to the three treasures. In ancient times, there were sages such as Sessen Doji, Bodhisattva Jotai, Bodhisattva Yakuo and King Fumyo, all of whom [offered their lives in order to make such repayment]. The first offered himself as food to a demon. The second sold his own blood and marrow. The third burned his arms, and the fourth was ready to part with his head. Common mortals in the Latter Day, however, though receiving the benefits of the three treasures, completely neglect to repay themShinjikan, Bommo and other sutras state that those who study Buddhism and receive the precepts of perfect and immediate enlightenment must repay the four debts of gratitude without fall. I am but an ignorant common mortal made of flesh and blood; I have not rid myself of even a fraction of the three categories of illusion. Yet, for the sake of the Lotus Sutra, I have been reviled, slandered, attacked with swords and staves, and sent into exile. In light of these persecutions, I believe I may be likened to the great sages who burned their arms, crushed their marrow, or did not begrudge being beheaded. This is why I feel immense joy.
The second of the two important matters is that I feel intense grief. The fourth volume of the Lotus Sutra states, "If there is an evil person who, with unwholesome thought, shall appear before the Buddha and for an entire kalpa constantly malign him, his offense will be comparatively light. But if there is a person who, with a single malicious word, shall denigrate the monks or laity who read and recite the Lotus Sutra, his offense will be very grave." When I read this and similar passages, my belief is aroused, sweat breaks out from my body, and tears fall from my eyes like rain. I grieve that, by being born in this country, I have caused so many of its people to create the worst karma possible in a lifetime. Those who struck Bodhisattva Fukyo came to repent of it while they were alive; yet even so, their offense was so difficult to expiate that they fell into the Avichi Hell and remained there for a thousand kalpas. But those who have done me harm have not yet repented of it even in the slightest.
Describing the karmic retribution which such people must receive, the Daijuku Sutra states, "[The Buddha asked,] 'If there should be a person who draws blood from the bodies of a thousand, ten thousand, or a hundred thousand Buddhas, in your thinking, how is it? Will he have committed a grave sin or not?' King Bonten replied, 'If a person causes the body of even a single Buddha to bleed, he will have committed an offense so serious that he will fall into the hell of incessant suffering. His sin will be unfathomably grave, and he will have to remain in the great Avichi Hell for so many kalpas that their number cannot be calculated even by means of counting sticks. Graver still is the offense a person would commit by causing the bodies of ten thousand or a hundred thousand Buddhas to bleed. No one could possibly explain in full either that person's offense or its karmic retribution--no one, that is, except the Buddha himself.' The Buddha said, 'King Bonten, suppose there should be a person who, for my sake, takes the tonsure and wears a surplice. Even though he has not at any time received the precepts and therefore observes none, if someone harasses him, abuses him or strikes him with a staff, then that persecutor's offense will be even graver than that [of injuring a hundred thousand Buddhas].'"
Nichiren
The sixteenth day of the first month in the second year of Kocho (1262), cyclical sign mizunoe-inu

Questions and Answers on Embracing the Lotus Sutra
Question: I have been born a human being--something rarely achieved--and have had the good fortune to encounter Buddhism. But there are shallow teachings and there are profound teachings, and some people rank high in capacity while others rank low. Now what teachings ought I to practice in order to attain Buddhahood as quickly as possible? I beg you to instruct me on this point.
Answer: Each family has its respected elders, and each province, its men of honored station. But although people all look up to their particular lord and pay honor to their own parents, could anyone stand higher than the ruler of the nation?
In the same way, confrontations between the Mahayana and the Hinayana or between the provisional and true teachings are comparable to disputes among rival houses, but among all the sutras expounded during the lifetime of the Buddha, the Lotus Sutra alone holds the position of absolute superiority. It is the guidepost that points the way to the immediate attainment of perfect wisdom, the carriage that takes us at once to the place of enlightenment.
Question: As I understand it, a teacher is someone who has grasped the central meaning of the sutras and treatises and who writes commentaries explaining them. If that is so, then it is only natural that the teachers of the various sects should each formulate doctrines according to his understanding, and on that basis write his commentaries, establish principles, and dedicate himself to the attainment of perfect wisdom. How could such an undertaking be in vain? To insist that the Lotus Sutra alone holds the position of absolute superiority is to adopt too narrow a view, I believe.
Answer: If you think that to proclaim the absolute superiority of the Lotus Sutra is to take too narrow a view, then one would have to conclude that no one in the world was more narrow-minded than Shakyamuni Buddha. I am afraid you are greatly mistaken in this matter. Let me quote to you from one of the sutras and one of the schools of commentary and see if I can resolve your confusion.
The Muryogi Sutra says: "[Because people differ in their natures and desires,] I expounded the Law in various ways. Expounding the Law in various ways, I made use of the power of expedient means. But in these more than forty years, I have not yet revealed the truth."
Hearing this pronouncement, Bodhisattva Daishogon and the other eighty thousand bodhisattvas replied in unison, voicing their understanding that "[If one cannot hear of this sutra...] in the end he will never attain supreme enlightenment, even after the lapse of countless, limitless, inconceivable asogi kalpas."
The point of this passage is to make clear that, no matter how much one may aspire to the Buddha Way by calling upon the name of Amida Buddha or by embracing the teachings of the Zen sect--relying on the sutras of the Kegon, Agon, Hodo and Hannya periods preached by the Buddha during the previous forty years and more--he will never succeed in attaining supreme enlightenment, even though a countless, limitless, inconceivable number of asogi kalpas should pass.
And this is not the only passage of this type. The Hoben chapter of the Lotus Sutra states: "The World-Honored One has long expounded his doctrines and now must reveal the truth." It also says, "[In the Buddha lands of the ten directions,] there is the Dharma of only one vehicle. There are not two, nor are there three." These passages mean that only this Lotus Sutra represents the truth.
Again, in the second volume it says, "I [Shakyamuni] alone can save them." And it speaks of "desiring only to receive and keep the scripture of the Great Vehicle, not accepting even a single verse from any of the other sutras.
It also says, "One who refuses to take faith in this sutra and instead slanders it immediately destroys the seeds for becoming a Buddha in this world.... After they die, they will fall into the Avichi Hell."
Examining these passages, the Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai concluded that it was statements such as these that had prompted the words, "Is this not a devil who has taken on the Buddha's form?" If we merely rely upon the commentaries of the various teachers, and do not follow the statements of the Buddha himself, then how can we call our beliefs Buddhism? To do so would be the height of absurdity! Therefore, the Great Teacher Chisho stated in his commentary, "If one claims that there is no division of Mahayana and Hinayana among the sutras and no distinction of partial and perfect among revelations of the truth, and therefore accepts all the words of the various teachers, then the preachings of the Buddha will have been to no purpose."
T'ien-t'ai has asserted, "That which has a profound doctrine and accords with the sutras is to be accepted and heeded. But put no faith in anything that in word or meaning fails to do so." And he also says, "All assertions that lack scriptural proof are to be branded as false." How do you interpret such statements?
Question: What you have just said may apply to the commentaries of the teachers. But what about the sutras preached before the Lotus Sutra that state, "This is the foremost sutra" or "This is the king of sutras"? If one were to go by what you have said, then he would have to reject these pronouncements, which are the words of the Buddha himself. Is this not so?
Answer: Although these earlier sutras may include such statements as "this is the foremost sutra" or "this is the king of sutras," they are all nevertheless provisional teachings. One is not to rely on such pronouncements. The Buddha himself commented on this point when he said, "Rely on the sutras that are complete and final and not on those that are not complete and final." And the Great Teacher Miao-lo states in his commentary: "Though other sutras may call themselves the king among sutras, there is none that announces itself as foremost among all the sutras preached in the past, now being preached, or to be preached in the future. Thus one should understand them according to the principle of 'combining, excluding, corresponding and including.'" This passage of commentary is saying in essence that, even if there should be a sutra that calls itself the king of sutras, if it does not also declare itself superior to those sutras that have been preached before and those that shall be preached after, then one should know that it is a sutra belonging to the category of expedient teachings.
It is the way of the sutras preached before the Lotus Sutra to say nothing concerning the sutras that were to be preached in the future. Only in the case of the Lotus Sutra, because it is the ultimate and highest statement of the Buddha's teachings, do we find a clear pronouncement that this sutra alone holds the place of absolute superiority among "all the sutras I have preached, now preach, and will preach."
Hence Miao-lo's commentary states: "Only when he came to preach the Lotus Sutra did the Buddha explain that his earlier teachings were provisional, and make clear that his present teaching in the Lotus Sutra represents the truth." Thus we may see that, in the Lotus Sutra, the Tathagata gave definite form both to his true intention and to the methods to be used in teaching and conferring benefit.
It is for this reason that T'ien-t'ai states: "After the Tathagata attained enlightenment, for forty years and more he did not reveal the truth. With the Lotus Sutra he for the first time revealed the truth." In other words, for forty years and more after the Tathagata went out into the world, he did not reveal the true teaching. In the Lotus Sutra, he for the first time revealed the true Way that leads to the attainment of Buddhahood.
Question: I understand what you say about the Lotus Sutra being foremost among all the sutras that the Buddha "has preached, now preaches, and will preach." But there is a certain teacher who asserts that the statement "In these more than forty years, I have not yet revealed the truth" is meant to apply only to the shomon disciples, who were enabled to achieve Buddhahood through the Lotus Sutra. It does not apply to the bodhisattvas, who had already gained the benefit of enlightenment through the sutras preached prior to the Lotus Sutra. What is your opinion on this matter?
Answer: You are referring to the view that the Lotus Sutra was preached for the benefit of persons in the two realms of shomon and engaku and not for persons in the realm of Bodhisattva, and that the words "I have not yet revealed the truth" therefore apply only to persons of the two vehicles. This was the opinion put forth by the Great Teacher Tokuichi, a priest of the Hosso sect. It has been repudiated by the Great Teacher Dengyo, who wrote: "There is at present a certain feeder on lowly food who has composed several volumes of spurious writings, slandering the Law and slandering persons. How can he possibly escape falling into hell!" As a result of these words of censure directed at him, Tokuichi's tongue split into eight pieces and he died.
Be that as it may, the assertion that the statement "I have not yet revealed the truth" was made for the sake of those in the two realms of shomon and engaku is in itself completely reasonable. The reason is that, from the very beginning, the fundamental purpose of the Tathagata's preaching was to open the way to enlightenment for persons in these two realms. And the methods of instruction used throughout his teaching life, as well as the skillful means exhibited in his three cycles of preaching, were chiefly employed for their sake.
In the Kegon Sutra, beings dwelling in hell are deemed able to become Buddhas, but those of shomon and engaku are condemned as incapable of doing so. In the Hodo sutras, it is stated that, just as lotus flowers cannot grow on the peak of a mountain, so those in the two realms [can never attain enlightenment, because they] have scorched the seeds of Buddhahood. And in the Hannya sutras, we read that persons who have committed the five cardinal sins can attain Buddhahood, but that those of the two vehicles are rejected as unable to do so. The Tathagata now declared as his true intention that these pitiful, abandoned persons in the two realms could indeed attain Buddhahood, using this as a standard to demonstrate the superiority of the Lotus Sutra.
Therefore, T'ien-t'ai has stated: "Neither the Kegon nor the Daibon Sutra could cure [the plight of these persons in the two realms of shomon and engaku]. The Lotus Sutra alone was able to produce the roots of goodness in those who have nothing more to learn, and to make it possible for them to attain the Buddha Way. Therefore, the sutra is called myo or 'mystic.' Again, the icchantika or persons of incorrigible disbelief nevertheless have minds, and so it is still possible for them to attain Buddhahood. But persons of the two vehicles have annihilated consciousness, and therefore cannot arouse the mind which aspires to enlightenment. And yet the Lotus Sutra can cure them, which is why it is called myo."
There is no need for me to explain in detail the import of this passage. One should understand once and for all that even the Dharma medicine offered by the Kegon, Hodo and Daibon sutras cannot cure the grave illness that afflicts persons in these two realms of shomon and engaku. Moreover, in the sutras preached before the Lotus Sutra, even guilty persons who are condemned to inhabit the three evil paths are regarded as bodhisattvas [and therefore capable of attaining Buddhahood], but no such recognition is accorded to the persons of the two vehicles.
With regard to this point, the Great Teacher Miao-lo states: "In the various sutras, it is taught that all other beings may attain Buddhahood, but there is absolutely no such hope offered to persons in the two realms. Therefore [in the Lotus Sutra] the six lower realms are grouped with the realm of Bodhisattva [as being assured of Buddhahood], and [the power of the sutra] is set forth with respect to those of the two realms of shomon and engaku, for whom Buddhahood is most difficult to achieve." Indeed, T'ien-t'ai establishes that the attainment of Buddhahood by those in the two realms of shomon and engaku is proof that all persons without exception can become Buddhas.
Could one think it difficult for an asura to cross the great ocean? Could one possibly think it easy for a little child to overthrow a sumo wrestler? In like manner, in the sutras preached before the Lotus Sutra, it is explained that persons who have the seeds of the Buddha nature may attain Buddhahood, but nowhere is it stated that those whose seeds are hopelessly scorched can ever do so. It is only the good medicine of the Lotus Sutra that can readily cure this grave affliction.
Now, if you wish to attain Buddhahood, you have only to lower the banners of your arrogance, cast aside the staff of your anger, and devote yourself exclusively to the one vehicle of the Lotus Sutra. Worldly fame and profit are mere baubles of your present existence, and arrogance and prejudice are ties that will fetter you in a future one. Ah, you should be ashamed of them! And you should fear them, too!
Question: Since, by means of a single instance, one may surmise the nature of all, on hearing your brief remarks about the Lotus Sutra, I feel that my ears and eyes have been clearly opened for the first time. But how can one understand the Lotus Sutra, so as to quickly reach the shore of enlightenment?
I have heard it said that only one for whom the sun of wisdom shines unclouded in the great sky of ichinen sanzen, and for whom the water of wisdom in the broad pond of isshin sangan is clear and never muddied, has the capacity to carry out the practice of this sutra. But I have never exerted myself to study the various schools of the Southern Capital [of Nara], and so I know nothing of the doctrines of the Yuga Ron and Yuishiki Ron, and my eyes are equally unopened with respect to the teachings of the Northern Peak [Mount Hiei], and so I am quite confused about the significance of the Maka Shikan and Hokke Gengi. With regard to the Tendai and Hosso sects, I am comparable to a person who has a pot over his head and stands with his face to a wall. It would seem, therefore, that my capacity is not equal to the Lotus Sutra. What am I to do?
Answer: It is the way of scholars these days to assert that only those who possess superior wisdom and strenuously exert themselves in the practice of meditation have the capacity to benefit from the Lotus Sutra, and to discourage persons who lack wisdom from even trying. But this is in fact an utterly ignorant and erroneous view. The Lotus Sutra teaches that all people, whoever they may be, can attain the Buddha Way. Therefore, the persons of superior faculties and superior capacity should naturally devote themselves to meditating on the mind and the dharmas. But for persons of inferior faculties and inferior capacity, the important thing is simply to have a mind of faith. Hence the Lotus Sutra states: "Those who with a pure mind believe and revere this doctrine, without giving way to doubt or confusion, will not fall into the realm of Hell, Hunger or Animality, but will be reborn in the presence of the Buddhas of the ten directions." One should have complete faith in the Lotus Sutra and look forward to being reborn in the presence of the Buddhas.
To illustrate, suppose that a person is standing at the foot of a tall embankment and is unable to ascend. And suppose that there is someone on top of the embankment who lowers a rope and says, "If you take hold of this rope, I will pull you up to the top of the embankment." If the person at the bottom begins to doubt that the other has the strength to pull him up, or wonders if the rope is not too weak and therefore refuses to put forth his hand and grasp it, then how is he ever to get to the top of the embankment? But if he follows the instructions, puts out his hand and takes hold of the rope, then he can climb up.
If one doubts the strength of the Buddha when he says, "I alone can save them"; if one is suspicious of the rope held out by the Lotus Sutra when its teachings declare that one can "gain entrance through faith"; if one fails to chant the Mystic Law which guarantees that "[concerning this man's attainment of Buddhahood,] there can assuredly be no doubt," then the Buddha's power cannot reach him and it will be impossible for him to scale the embankment of enlightenment.
Lack of faith is the basic failing that causes one to fall into hell. Therefore, the Lotus Sutra states: "One who gives way to doubt and does not have faith will surely fall into the evil paths."
When one has had the rare good fortune to be born a human being, and the further good fortune to encounter the teachings of Buddhism, how can he waste this opportunity? If one is going to take faith at all, then among all the various teachings of the Mahayana and the Hinayana, provisional and true doctrines, he should take faith in the one vehicle, the true purpose for which the Buddhas come into this world and the direct path to attaining enlightenment for all living beings.
If the sutra that one embraces is superior to all other sutras, then the person who can uphold its teachings must likewise surpass other people. That is why the Lotus Sutra states: "He who can uphold this sutra will also be first among all the multitude of living beings." There can be no question about these golden words of the great sage, the Buddha. And yet people fail to understand this principle or to examine the matter, but instead seek worldly reputation or give way to suspicion and prejudice, thus forming the basis for falling into hell.
All that is desired is that one embrace this sutra and cast his name upon the sea of the vows made by the Buddhas of the ten directions, that he entrust his honor to the heaven that is the compassion of the bodhisattvas of the three existences. When a person thus embraces the Lotus Sutra, he will cause the gods, dragons, and the others of the eight kinds of lowly beings, as well as all the great bodhisattvas, to become his followers. Not only that, but his physical body, which is still in the course of achieving Buddhahood, will acquire the Buddha eye of one who has perfected that course; and this common flesh, that exists in the realm of the conditioned, will put on the holy garments of the unconditioned. Then he need never fear the three paths or tremble before the eight difficulties. He will ascend to the peak of the mountain of the seven expedients and sweep away the clouds of the nine worlds. In the garden of undefiled ground the flowers will bloom, and in the sky of the Dharma nature the moon will shine brightly. One can rely on the passage that promises, "Concerning this man's attainment of Buddhahood, there can assuredly be no doubt," and there is no question about the Buddha's pronouncement that "I alone can save them."
The blessings gained by arousing even a single moment of faith in and understanding of the Lotus Sutra surpass those of practicing the five paramitas; and the benefit enjoyed by the fiftieth person who rejoices on hearing the Law is greater than that acquired by giving alms for eighty years. The doctrine of the immediate attainment of enlightenment far outshines the doctrines of other scriptures; and the pronouncements concerning the revelation of the Buddha's original enlightenment and the immeasurable duration of his life as the Buddha are never found in any of the other teachings.
Thus it was that the eight-year-old daughter of the dragon king was able to come out of the vast sea and in an instant give proof of the power of this sutra, and Bodhisattva Jogyo of the essential teaching emerged from beneath the great earth and demonstrated the unfathomably long life span of the Buddha. This, the Lotus, is the king of sutras, defying description in words, the wonderful Law that is beyond the mind's power to comprehend.
To ignore the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra and to assert that other sutras stand on a par with it is to commit the worst possible slander of the Law, a major offense of the utmost gravity. No analogy could suffice to illustrate it. The Buddhas, for all their powers of magical transformation, could never finish describing its consequences, and the bodhisattvas, with all the wisdom at their command, could not fathom its immensity. Thus, the Hiyu chapter of the Lotus Sutra says: "Not even an aeon would be time enough to explain the full gravity of this sin." This passage means that if one were to describe the offense of a person who acts against the Lotus Sutra even once, he could exhaust a whole kalpa and never finish describing its seriousness.
For this reason, someone who commits this offense will never be able to hear the teaching of the Buddhas of the three existences, and will be cut off from the doctrines of the Tathagatas, who are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Such a person will move from darkness into greater darkness. How could he escape the pains and sufferings of the great citadel of the Avichi Hell? Could any person of feeling fail to dread the prospect of lengthy kalpas of woe?
Thus the Lotus Sutra states: "They will despise, hate, envy and bear grudges against those who read, recite, transcribe and embrace this sutra.... After they die, they will fall into the Aviread, recite, transcribe and embrace this sutra.... After they die, they will fall into the Avichi Hell." Who could help but tremble before these golden words of the great sage? And who could doubt the clear-cut pronouncement of the Buddha when h
However, people all turn their backs on these sutra passages, and the world as a whole is completely confused with regard to the principles of Buddhism. Why do you persist in following the teachings of evil friends? The Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai in his commentary has said that to accept and to put faith in the doctrines of evil teachers is the same as drinking poison. You must beware of this! You must beware indeed!
Taking a careful look at the world today, we see that, although people declare that the Law is worthy of respect, they all express hatred for the person [who champions it]. You yourself seem to be very much confused as to the source from which the Law springs. Just as all the different kinds of plants and trees come forth from the earth, so all the various teachings of the Buddha are spread by persons. As the Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai has said, "Even during the Buddha's lifetime, the Law was revealed by people. How, then, in the latter age, can one say that the Law is worthy of respect but that the person [who champions it] is to be despised?" Hence, if the Law that one embraces is supreme, then the person who embraces it must accordingly be foremost among all others. And if that is so, then to speak ill of that person is to speak ill of the Law, just as to show contempt for the son is to show contempt for the parents who bore him.
You should realize from this that the people of today speak words that in no way match what is in their hearts. It is as though they were to beat their parents with a copy of the Classic of Filial Piety. When they know that, unseen by others, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas are observing them, how can they fall to be ashamed of such actions! The pains of hell are frightful indeed. Beware of them! Beware of them!
When you look at those of superior capacity, do not disparage yourself. The Buddha's true intention was that no one, even those of inferior capacity, be denied enlightenment. Conversely, when you compare yourself with persons of inferior capacity, do not be arrogant and overproud. Even persons of superior capacity may be excluded from enlightenment if they do not devote themselves wholeheartedly.
One may think fondly of his native village, but, as he pays no visit there and no particular reason to go presents itself, in time he gives up the idea of returning. Or one may pine for a particular person, but, with no hope of winning that person's love and having exchanged no vows, he abandons the thought of continuing to wait. So in like manner we neglect to journey to the pure land of Eagle Peak, though it surpasses in grandeur the palaces of nobles and high ministers, and moreover is quite easy to reach. We fail to behold the gentle and benign figure of the Buddha, who has declared, "I am your father," though we ought surely to present ourselves before him. Should not one grieve at this, until his sleeves are drenched with tears and his heart consumed by regret?
The color of the clouds in the sky as twilight falls, the waning light of the moon when dawn is breaking--these things make us ponder. In the same way, whenever events remind us of life's uncertainty, we should fix our thoughts on the existence to come. When we view the blossoms of spring or the snow on a winter morning, we should think of it, and even on evenings when winds bluster and gathering clouds tumble across the sky, we should not forget it even for an instant.
Life lasts no longer than the interval between the drawing of one breath and the exhaling of another. At what time, what moment, should we ever allow ourselves to forget the compassionate vow of the Buddha, whose "constant thought" is of our salvation? On what day or month should we permit ourselves to be without the sutra that says, "[Among those who hear of this Law,] there is not one who shall not attain Buddhahood"?
How long can we expect to live on as we have, from yesterday to today or from last year to this year? We may look back over our past and count how many years we have accumulated, but who can for certain number himself among the living for another day or even for an hour? Yet, though one may know that the moment of his death is already at hand, he clings to his arrogance and prejudice, his worldly fame and profit, and fails to devote himself to chanting the Mystic Law. Such an attitude is futile beyond description! Even though the Lotus Sutra is called the teaching by which all can attain the Buddha Way, how could a person such as this actually attain it? It is said that even the moonlight will not deign to shine on the sleeve of an unfeeling person.
Moreover, as life does not go beyond the moment, the Buddha expounded the blessings that come from a single moment of rejoicing [on hearing the Lotus Sutra]. If two or three moments were required, this could no longer be called the original vow of the Buddha of great undifferentiating wisdom, the single vehicle of the teaching of immediate enlightenment that enables all beings to attain Buddhahood.
As for the time of its propagation, the Lotus Sutra spreads during the latter age, when the Buddha's Law disappears. As for what capacity of persons it is suited to, it can save even those who commit the five cardinal sins or who slander the Law. Therefore, you must be guided by the intent of [the Lotus Sutra, which is] the immediate attainment of enlightenment and never give yourself up to the mistaken views suggested to you by doubts or attachments,
How long does a lifetime last? If one stops to consider, it is like a single night's lodging at a wayside inn. Should one forget that fact and seek some measure of worldly fame and profit? Though you may gain them, they will be mere prosperity in a dream, a delight scarcely to be prized. You would do better simply to leave such matters to the karma formed in your previous existences.
Once you awaken to the uncertainty and transience of this world, you will find endless examples confronting your eyes and filling your ears. Vanished like clouds or rain, the people of past ages have left nothing but their names. Fading away like dew, drifting far off like smoke, our friends of today too disappear from sight. And should one suppose that he alone can somehow remain forever like the clouds over Mount Mikasa?
The spring blossoms depart with the wind; the maple leaves turn red in the autumn showers. All are proof that no living being can stay for long in this world. Therefore, the Lotus Sutra counsels us: "Nothing in this world is firm or secure; all is like foam on the water or a wisp of flame."
"[This is my constant thought:] how I can cause all living beings to gain entry to the highest Way." These words express the Buddha's deepest wish to enable both those who accept the True Law and those who oppose it to attain Buddhahood. Because this is his ultimate purpose, those who embrace the Lotus Sutra for even a short while are acting in accordance with his will. And if one acts in accordance with the Buddha's will, he will be repaying the debt of gratitude he owes to the Buddha. The words of the sutra, that are as full of compassion as a mother's love, will then find solace, and the cares of the Buddha, who said, "I alone can save them," will likewise be eased. Not only will Shakyamuni Buddha rejoice, but, because the Lotus Sutra is the ultimate purpose for the advent of all Buddhas, the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three existences will likewise rejoice. "[One who embraces it even for a short time] will delight me and all other Buddhas," said Shakyamuni. And not only will the Buddhas rejoice, but the gods also will join in their delight. Thus, when the Great Teacher Dengyo lectured on the Lotus Sutra, the Great Bodhisattva Hachiman presented him with a purple robe, and when the priest Kuya recited the Lotus Sutra, the great deity of Matsuo Shrine was able to gain protection from the cold wind.
For this reason, when praying that "the seven difficulties vanish, the seven blessings at once appear," this sutra, the Lotus, is the most effective of all. That is because it promises that one "will enjoy peace and security in this life." And when offering prayers to avert the disasters of foreign invasion and internal revolt, nothing can surpass this wonderful sutra, because it promises that persons who embrace it will be protected "for as far as a hundred yojana away, so that they shall suffer no decline or distress."
But the method of offering prayers in our present age is the exact opposite of what it ought to be. Prayers are based upon the provisional teachings, which were intended for propagation in previous ages, rather than upon the secret Law of the highest truth, which is intended for propagation in the latter age. To proceed in this way is like trying to make use of last year's calendar, or to employ a crow for the kind of fishing that only a cormorant can do.
This situation has come about solely because the error-bound teachers of the provisional teachings are accorded high honor, while the teacher enlightened to the true teaching has not been duly recognized. How sad to think that this rough gem, such as was presented by Pien Ho to kings Wen and Wu, should find no place of acceptance! How joyful, though, that I have obtained in this life the priceless gem concealed in the topknot of the wheel-turning king, for which Shakyamuni made his advent in this world!
What I am saying here has been fully attested to by the Buddhas of the ten directions and is no mere idle talk. Therefore, knowing that the Lotus Sutra says, "In the world at that time the people will be full of hostility, and it will be extremely difficult to believe," how can you retain even a trace of disbelief and refuse to become a Buddha, of which promise "there can assuredly be no doubt"?
Up until now you have merely suffered in vain the pains of countless existences since the remotest past. Why do you not, if only this once, try planting the mystic seeds that lead to eternal and unchanging enlightenment? Though at present you may taste only a tiny fraction of the everlasting joys that await you in the future, surely you should not spend your time thoughtlessly coveting worldly fame and profit, which are as fleeting as a bolt of lightning or the morning dew. As the Tathagata has taught us, "There is no safety in this threefold world; it is like a burning house." And in the words of a bodhisattva, "All things are like a phantom, like a magically conjured image."
Outside the city of Tranquil Light, everywhere is a realm of suffering. Once you leave the haven of inherent enlightenment, what is there that can bring you joy? I pray you will embrace the Mystic Law, which guarantees that one "will enjoy peace and security in this life and good circumstances in the next." This is the only glory that you need seek in your present lifetime, and is the action that will draw you toward Buddhahood in your next existence. Single-mindedly chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and urge others to do the same; that will remain as the only memory of your present life in this human world. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Nichiren

Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man
PART ONE
Having received life, one cannot escape death. Yet though everyone, from the noblest, the emperor, down to the lowliest commoner, recognizes this as a fact, not one person in a thousand or ten thousand truly takes the matter seriously or grieves over it. Suddenly confronted with evidence of the impermanence of life, we may be frightened at the thought that we have remained so distant from Buddhism and lament that we have been too engrossed in secular affairs. Yet we assume that those who have preceded us in death are wretched and that we who remain alive are superior. Busy with that task yesterday and this affair today, we are helplessly bound by the five desires of our worldly nature. Unaware that time passes as quickly as a white colt glimpsed through a crack in the wall, ignorant as sheep being led to the slaughter, held hopeless prisoners by our concern for food and clothing, we fall heedlessly into the snares of fame and profit and in the end make our way back to that familiar village in the three evil paths, only to set out on the road again, reborn time after time in the six paths of existence. What person of feeling could fail to grieve at such a state of affairs, or could fail to be moved to sorrow!
Alas! Neither young nor old know what fate awaits them--such is the way of our saha world. All those who meet are destined to part again--such is the rule in this floating world we live in. Although none of this had just struck me for the first time, [I was appalled at] seeing all those who took early leave of this world in the beginning of the Shoka era. Some of them left little children behind them, while others were forced to abandon their aged parents. How sad their hearts must have been when, though still in the prime of life, they were obliged to set off on their journey to the Yellow Springs. It was painful for those who departed, and painful for those left behind.
The king of Ch'u's passion for the goddess remained as a wisp of morning cloud, and Liu's grief at remembering his meeting with the immortal visitor was consoled by the sight of his descendants of the seventh generation. But how can a person like myself win release from sorrow? I find myself recalling the poet of old who hoped that, because he was a humble-hearted dweller in the mountains, he might be free of such sadness. Now, gathering together my thoughts as the men of Naniwa gather seaweed to extract salt, I give them form with my writing brush as a memento for people in later ages.
How sad, how lamentable it is! From the beginningless past, we have been drunk on the wine of ignorance, reborn again and again in the six paths of existence and the four forms of birth. Sometimes we gasp amid the flames of the hell of burning heat or the hell of great burning heat; sometimes we are frozen in the ice of the hell of the blood-red lotus or the hell of the great blood-red lotus. Sometimes we must endure the hunger and thirst that torment those in the realm of Hunger, for five hundred lifetimes not so much as hearing the words "food" or "drink." Sometimes we suffer being wounded and killed in the realm of Animality, wounding and killing that occur when the small are swallowed up by the large or the short engulfed by the long. Sometimes we face the contention and strife of the realm of Anger; sometimes we are born as human beings and undergo the eight sufferings of birth, old age, sickness, death, the pain of parting from loved ones, the pain of encountering those whom we hate, the pain of failing to obtain what we desire, and the pain that arises from the five components of body and mind. And sometimes we are born in the realm of Heaven and experience the five signs of decay.
And so we go round and round like a cartwheel in this threefold world. Even among people once related as father and child, parents reborn do not know that they were parents or children that they were children; and though husband and wife re-encounter one another, they do not know that they have already met. We go astray as though we had the eyes of sheep; we are as ignorant as though we had the eyes of wolves. We do not know our past relationship with the mother who gave us birth, and we are unaware when we ourselves will succumb to death.
And yet we have obtained birth in the human world, something difficult to achieve, and have encountered the sacred teachings of the Buddha, which are rarely to be met. We are like the one-eyed turtle finding a floating log with a hole in it that fits him exactly. How regrettable it would be, then, if we did not take this opportunity to sever the bonds of birth and death, making no attempt to free ourselves from the cage of the threefold world!
Then a wise man appeared and addressed the unenlightened man, saying, "You are quite right to lament as you do. But those who understand the impermanence of this world in this way and turn their hearts to goodness are rarer than ch'i-lin's horns, while those who fail to understand and instead give themselves to evil thoughts are more numerous than the hairs on a cow. If you wish to arouse the aspiration for enlightenment and to quickly free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death, then I know of the finest doctrine that there is for such a purpose. If you wish, I will explain it to you so that you may know of it."
The unenlightened man rose from his seat, pressed his palms together and said, "For some time now I have been studying the classics of secular literature and giving all my attention to matters of poetry, so I have no detailed knowledge of the Buddhist teachings. I hope that you will be kind enough to explain them to me, sir."
At that time the wise man said, "You must listen with the ears of Ling Lun, borrow the eyes of Li Chu, and still your mind, and I will explain things to you. The sacred teachings of Buddhism number no less than eighty thousand, but the father and mother of all the sects, the most important teaching, is that concerning the precepts and rules of conduct. In India, the bodhisattvas Vasubandhu and Ashvaghosha and, in China, the priests Hui-k'uang and Tao-hsuan placed great emphasis on these. And in our own country, during the reign of the forty-fifth sovereign, Emperor Shomu, the Chinese priest Ganjin brought to Japan the teachings of the Ritsu sect, along with those of the Tendai sect, and established an ordination platform for administering the precepts at Todai-ji temple. From that time down to the present, the precepts have been revered over many long years, and the honor paid to them increases daily.
"In particular, there is the eminent priest Ryokan of Gokuraku-ji. Everyone, from the supreme ruler down to the common people, looks up to him as a living Buddha, and on observing his conduct, we find that it is indeed in keeping with such a reputation. He directed charitable activities at Ijima-no-tsu, collected rice at the Mutsura Barrier and used the funds to build roads in the various provinces. He set up barriers along the seven highways, collected a toll from everyone who passed by, and used the money to build bridges across a number of rivers. In such acts of compassion he is equal to the Buddha, and his virtuous deeds surpass those of the sages of the past. If you wish to quickly free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death, then you should observe the five precepts and the two hundred and fifty precepts, deepen your compassion for others, refrain from killing any living thing, and, like the eminent priest Ryokan, engage in building roads and bridges. This is the finest of all teachings. Are you prepared to embrace it?"
The unenlightened man pressed his palms together more fervently than ever and said, "Indeed, I want very much to embrace it! Please explain it to me thoroughly. You speak of the five precepts and the two hundred and fifty precepts, but I do not know what they are. Please describe them to me in detail."
The wise man said, "Your ignorance is abysmal! Even a child knows what the five precepts and the two hundred and fifty precepts are. However, I will explain them for you. The five precepts comprise, first, the prohibition against taking life; second, the prohibition against stealing; third, the prohibition against lying; fourth, the prohibition against unlawful sexual intercourse; and fifth, the prohibition against drinking intoxicants. The two hundred and fifty precepts are numerous, and so I will not go into them here."
At this the unenlightened man bowed low and with the deepest respect said, "From this day forward, I will devote myself to this doctrine with all my heart."
This man had an old acquaintance, a lay Buddhist believer living in retirement, who paid him a visit to cheer him up. At first the visitor spoke about the affairs of the past, likening them to a dream that is endless and hazy, and then he talked of the future, pointing out how vast and dark it is, how difficult to predict. After he had sought in this way to divert his listener and explain his own views, he said, "Most of us who live in this world of ours find we cannot help thinking about the life to come. May I ask what kind of Buddhist doctrine you have embraced in order to free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death or to pray for the welfare of those who have gone on to another life?"
The unenlightened man replied, "The other day an eminent priest called on me and instructed me in the five precepts and the two hundred and fifty precepts. In truth I am deeply impressed with his teachings and find them most admirable. Although I know I can never equal the eminent priest Ryokan, I have determined to do all I can to repair roads that are in poor condition and to build bridges over rivers that are too deep for wading."
Then the lay believer gave him words of advice, saying, "Your concern for the Way would seem to be admirable, but your approach is foolish. The doctrine you have just described to me is the lowly teaching of the Hinayana. That is why the Buddha has set forth eight analogies and why Bodhisattva Monju has described seventeen differences between the Hinayana and the Mahayana. The Buddha has said, for example, that the Hinayana is like the light of a firefly compared to the brilliance of the sun, or like plain crystal compared to emerald. Moreover, the teachers of India, China and Japan have written not a few treatises refuting the Hinayana teachings.
"Next, concerning your reverence for those who observe these practices, a teaching is not necessarily worthy of honor simply because its practitioners are respected. It is for this reason that the Buddha laid down the principle, 'Rely on the Law and not upon persons.'
"I have heard it said that the sages of ancient times who observed the precepts could not bear even to utter the words 'kill' or 'hoard,' but would substitute some pure-sounding circumlocution, and when they happened to catch sight of a beautiful woman, they would meditate upon the thought of a corpse. But if we examine the behavior of the monks of today who supposedly observe the precepts, we find that they hoard silks, wealth and jewels and concern themselves with lending money at interest. Since their doctrines and their practices differ so greatly, who would think of putting any faith in them!
"And as for this matter of building roads and constructing bridges, it only causes people trouble. The charitable activities at Ijima-no-tsu and the collecting of rice at the Mutsura Barrier have brought unhappiness to a great many people, and the setting up of barriers along the seven highways of the various provinces has imposed a hardship upon travelers. These are things that are happening right in front of your eyes. Can't you see what is going on?"
The unenlightened man thereupon flushed with anger and said, "You with your little bit of wisdom have no cause to speak ill of that eminent priest and to defame his teachings! Do you do so knowingly or are you simply a fool? It is a fearful thing you are doing!"
Then the lay believer laughed and said, "Alas, you are the foolish one! Let me briefly explain to you the biased views of that sect. You should understand that when it comes to the Buddhist teaching, there is the Mahayana division and the Hinayana division, and that in terms of sects there are those based upon the provisional teachings and those based upon the true teaching. Long ago, when the Buddha taught the Hinayana doctrines in the Deer Park, he was opening the gate to a phantom city. But later, when the mats were spread for the teaching of the Lotus Sutra on Eagle Peak, then those earlier doctrines ceased to be of any benefit."
The unenlightened man looked at the lay believer in perplexity and said, "Both the documentary evidence and the evidence of actual fact indeed support what you have said. But then what kind of Buddhist teaching ought one to embrace in order to free oneself from the sufferings of birth and death and quickly attain Buddhahood?"
The other replied, "Although I am only a layman I have given myself earnestly to the practice of Buddhism, and from the time of my youth, I have listened to the words of many teachers and have done a certain amount of reading in the sacred scriptures. For those of us of this latter age, who have committed all manner of evil, there is nothing that can compare with the Nembutsu teachings that lead to rebirth in the Pure Land. Thus, Supervisor of Monks Eshin says, 'The teachings and practices that lead to rebirth in the Land of Perfect Bliss are the eyes and feet for those who live in this defiled latter age of ours.' The eminent priest Honen collected the most important passages from the various sutras and spread the doctrine of exclusive devotion to the practice of the Nembutsu. In particular, the original vows of the Buddha Amida surpass the vows of all other Buddhas in their worth and importance. From the first vow, that the three evil paths will not exist in his land, down to the last vow, that bodhisattvas will be enabled to attain the three types of perception, all of Amida's compassionate vows are to be greatly welcomed. But the eighteenth vow is particularly effective on our behalf. In addition, even those who have committed the ten evil acts or the five cardinal sins are not excluded, nor is any distinction made between those who have recited the Nembutsu only one time and those who have recited it many times. For this reason, everyone from the ruler down to the common people favors this sect far above the other sects. And how many countless people have gained rebirth in the Pure Land as a result of it!"
The unenlightened man said, "Truly one should be ashamed of the small and yearn for the great, abandon the shallow and embrace the profound. This is not only a principle of Buddhism but a rule of the secular world as well. Therefore I would like to shift my allegiance without delay to this sect you have described. Please explain its principles to me in greater detail. You say that even those who have committed the five cardinal sins or the ten evil acts are not excluded from the Buddha's compassionate vows. What, may I ask, are the five cardinal sins and the ten evil acts?"
The wise lay believer replied, "The five cardinal sins are killing one's father, killing one's mother, killing an arhat, shedding a Buddha's blood, and disrupting the harmony of the Buddhist Order. As for the ten evil acts, there are three acts of the body, four acts of the mouth, and three acts of the mind. The three evil acts of the body are killing, stealing and unlawful sexual intercourse. The four evil acts of the mouth are lying, flattery, defaming and duplicity. The three evil acts of the mind are greed, anger and stupidity."
"Now I understand them," said the unenlightened man. "From this day forward, I will place all my trust in this power of another, of the Buddha Amida, to bring me to rebirth in the Pure Land."
At that time there was a practitioner of the esoteric sect who was extraordinarily diligent in upholding its teachings. He too came to call on the unenlightened man to console him. At first he spoke only of "wild words and ornate phrases," but in the end he discoursed on the differences between the two types of Buddhist teachings, those of the exoteric sects and those of the esoteric sect. He inquired of the unenlightened man, "What sort of Buddhist doctrines are you practicing and what sutras and treatises do you read and recite?"
The unenlightened man replied, "Recently, in accordance with the instruction of a lay believer I know, I have been reading the three Pure Land sutras and have come to put profound trust in Amida, the lord of the Western Paradise."
The practitioner said, "There are two kinds of Buddhist teachings, the exoteric teachings and the esoteric teachings. The most profound doctrines of the exoteric teachings cannot compare even to the elementary stages of the esoteric teachings. From what you tell me, it seems that the doctrine you have embraced is the exoteric teaching put forth by Shakyamuni Buddha. But the doctrine that I adhere to is the secret teaching of Dainichi Buddha, the King of Enlightenment. If you are truly fearful of this burning house that is the threefold world we live in and long for the wonderful land of Tranquil Light, then you should cast aside the exoteric teachings at once and put faith in the esoteric teachings!"
The unenlightened man, greatly startled, said, "I have never heard of this distinction between exoteric and esoteric doctrines. What are the exoteric teachings? What are the esoteric teachings?"
The practitioner replied, "I am a hardheaded and foolish person and am not learned at all. Nevertheless, I would like to cite one or two passages and see if I can dispel your ignorance. The exoteric teachings are the doctrines preached in response to the request of Shariputra and the other disciples by a Buddha in the manifested-body aspect. But the esoteric teachings are those which the Buddha Dainichi, a Buddha in the Dharma-body aspect, preached spontaneously out of his boundless joy in the Dharma, with Kongosatta as his listener. These teachings constitute the Dainichi Sutra and the others of the three esoteric sutras."
The unenlightened man said, "What you say stands to reason. I think I should correct my former error and hasten to embrace these more worthy teachings!"
There was a mendicant priest who drifted about from province to province like floating grass, who rolled on from district to district like tumbleweed. Before anyone realized it he appeared on the scene and stood leaning on the pillar of the gate, smiling but saying nothing.
The unenlightened man, wondering at this, asked what he wanted. At first the priest made no reply, but after the question was repeated he said, "The moon is dim and distant, the wind brisk and blustery." His appearance was quite out of the ordinary and his words made no sense, but when the unenlightened man inquired about the ultimate principle behind them he found that they represented the Zen teachings as they are expounded in the world today.
He observed the priest's appearance, listened to his words, and asked what he considered a good cause for entering the Buddha Way. The mendicant priest replied, "The teachings of the sutras are a finger pointing at the moon. Their doctrinal nets are so much nonsense that has been captured in words. But there is a teaching that enables you to find rest in the essential nature of your own mind--it is called Zen."
"I would like to hear about it," said the unenlightened man.
"If you are truly in earnest," said the priest, "you must face the wall, sit in Zen meditation, and make clear the moon of your original mind. That the Zen linmake clear the moon of your original mind. That the Zen lineage of the twenty-eight patriarchs was passed on without break in India, and that the line of transmission was handed down through the six patriarchs in China is clear for all to see. It would be pitiful indeed if you should fail to understand what they have taught and remain caught in the nets of doctrine! Since the mind itself is Buddha and Buddha is none other than the mind, what Buddha could there be outside yourself?"
When the unenlightened man heard these words, he began to ponder various things and to quietly consider the principles he had heard. He said, "There are a great many different Buddhist doctrines, and it is very difficult to determine which are sound and which are not. It is only natural that Bodhisattva Jotai should have gone east to inquire about the truth, that Zenzai Doji should have sought for it in the south, that Bodhisattva Yakuo burned his arms as an offering, and that Gyobo Bonji stripped off his skin. A good teacher is truly difficult to find! Some say that one should go by the teachings of the sutras, while others say that the truth lies outside the sutras. In pondering the rights and wrongs of these doctrines, he who has not yet fathomed the depths of Buddhism and stands gazing over the waters of the Law is in doubt as to how deep they may be; he who assesses a teacher does so with all the anxiety of a person walking on thin ice. That is why the Buddha has left us those golden words, 'Rely on the Law and not upon persons,' and why it is said that those who encounter the True Law are as few as the grains of earth that can he placed on a fingernail. If there is someone who knows which of the Buddhist teachings are true and which are false, then I must seek him out, make him my teacher and treat him with appropriate respect."
They say that it is as difficult to be born in the realm of human beings as it is to thread a needle by lowering the thread from the heavens, and as rare to see and hear the Buddha's teachings as it is for a one-eyed turtle to encounter a floating log with a hole just the right size to hold him. [Having this in mind] and believing that one must regard the body as insignificant and the Law as supreme, the unenlightened man climbed numerous mountains, impelled by his anxiety, going from one temple to another as his feet would carry him. In time he arrived at a rocky cave with green mountains rising sheer behind it. The wind in the pines played a melody of eternity, happiness, true self and purity, and the emerald stream that bubbled along in front sent its waves striking against the bank with echoes of the perfection of these four virtues. The flowers carpeting the deep valley bloomed with the hue of the true aspect of the Middle Way, and from the plum blossoms just beginning to open in the broad meadow wafted the fragrance of the three thousand realms. Truly it was beyond the power of words to describe, beyond the scope of the mind to imagine. One might have thought it the place where the Four White-haired Recluses of Mount Shang lived, or the site where some ancient Buddha had walked about after meditation. Auspicious clouds rose up at dawn, a mysterious light appeared in the evening. Ah, the mind cannot grasp it nor words set it forth!
The unenlightened man wandered about, pondering what was before him, now pausing in thought, now resuming his steps. Suddenly he came upon a sage. Observing his actions, he saw that the sage was reciting the Lotus Sutra; his voice stirred the seeker deeply. Peering in at the quiet window of the sage's retreat, he found that the sage was resting his elbows on his desk, pondering the sutra's profound meaning.
The sage, divining that the unenlightened man was searching for the Law, asked in a gentle voice, "Why have you come to this cave among these far-off mountains?"
The other replied, "Because I attach little importance to life but great importance to the Law."
"What practices do you follow?" asked the sage.
The unenlightened man answered, "I have lived all my life amid the dust of the secular world and have not yet learned how to free myself from the sufferings of birth and death. As it happened, however, I encountered various good teachers, from whom I learned first the rules of discipline and then the Nembutsu, Shingon and Zen teachings. But though I have learned these teachings, I am unable to determine their truth or falsity."
The sage said, "When I listen to your words, I find that it is indeed just as you have said. To hold life lightly but value the Law is the teaching of the sages of former times, and one that I myself know well.
"From the realm where there is neither thought nor no thought above the clouds to the very bottom of hell, is there any being who receives life and yet succeeds in escaping death? Thus, even in the unenlightened secular writings we find it said, 'Though you may set out at dawn on the journey of life with pride in the beauty of your rosy cheeks, by evening you will be no more than a pile of white bones rotting on the moor.' Though you may move among the most exalted company of court nobles, your hair done up elegantly like clouds and your sleeves fluttering like eddies of snow, such pleasures, when you stop to consider them, are no more than a dream within a dream. You must come to rest at last under the carpet of weeds at the foot of the hill, and all your jeweled daises and brocade hangings will mean nothing to you on the road to the afterlife. The famed flower-like beauty of Ono no Komachi and Soto'ori Hime was in time scattered by the winds of impermanence. Fan K'uai and Chang Liang, in spite of their skill in the military arts, in the end suffered beneath the staves of the guardians of hell. That is why men of feeling in former times wrote poems such as these:
How sad, the evening smoke
from Mount Toribe!
Those who see off the dead one--
how long will they remain?
Dew on the branch tips,
drops on the trunk--
all sooner or later
must vanish from this world.
"This rule of life, that if one does not die sooner he will surely die later, should not at this late date come as a surprise to you. But the thing that you should desire above all is the Way of the Buddha, and that which you should continually seek are the teachings of the sutras. Now from what you have told me about the Buddhist doctrines you have encountered, I can see that some of them belong to the Hinayana division of Buddhism and some to the Mahayana. But, leaving aside for the moment the question of which is superior and which inferior, I can say that, far from bringing you deliverance, the practice of these teachings will lead to rebirth in the evil paths of existence."
At this the unenlightened man exclaimed in surprise, "But were not all the sacred teachings that the Buddha expounded throughout his lifetime designed to benefit living beings? From the time of the preaching of the Kegon Sutra at the seven places and eight assemblies, down to the ceremony in which the Nirvana Sutra was expounded on the banks of the Hiranyavati River, all the doctrines were taught by Shakyamuni Buddha himself. Though one may perhaps be able to distinguish certain small degrees of relative merit among them, how could any of them possibly be the cause for rebirth in the evil paths?"
The sage replied, "The sacred teachings that the Buddha proclaimed in the course of his lifetime may be divided into the categories of provisional and true, Hinayana and Mahayana. In addition, they may be classified according to the two paths of the exoteric and the esoteric. Thus they are not all of the same sort. Let me for a moment explain the general nature of the problem and thus relieve you of your misunderstandings.
"When Shakyamuni, the lord of the threefold world, was nineteen years old, he left the city of Gaya, and went into retreat on the Dandaka Mountain where he carried out various difficult and painful austerities. He attained enlightenment at the age of thirty, and at that time instantly banished the three categories of illusion and brought to an end the vast night of ignorance. It might appear that he should at that time have preached the one vehicle of the Lotus Sutra in order to fulfill his original vow. But he knew that the people varied greatly in their capacities and that they did not have the receptivity to understand the Buddha vehicle. Therefore he devoted the following forty years or more to developing the people's inherent capacity. Then, in the last eight years of his life, he fulfilled the purpose of his advent in the world by preaching the Lotus Sutra.
"Thus it was that when the Buddha was seventy-two he preached the Muryogi Sutra as an introduction to the Lotus Sutra and therein stated: 'In the past I sat upright in the place of meditation under the Bodhi tree for six years and attained the supreme enlightenment. When I observed all phenomena with the eye of a Buddha, I knew that I could not expound my enlightenment just as it was. Why was that? Because I knew that people differ in their natures and their desires. And because they differ in their natures and desires, I expounded the Law in various ways. Expounding the Law in various ways, I made use of the power of expedient means. But in these more than forty years, I have not yet revealed the truth.'
"The meaning of this passage is that, when the Buddha was thirty years of age and sat in the place of enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, he observed the inner heart of all beings with the eye of a Buddha and realized that it was not the proper time to preach to them the Lotus Sutra, which reveals the direct way to the attainment of Buddhahood for all beings. Therefore, as one would wave an empty fist about to humor a little baby, he resorted to various expedient means, and for the following forty years or more he refrained from revealing the truth. Thus he defined the period of the expedient teachings as clearly as the sun rising in the blue sky or the full moon coming up on a dark night.
"In view of this passage, why should we, with the very same faith that could just as easily be directed toward the Lotus Sutra, cling to the provisional teachings of the sutras that preceded the Lotus Sutra, those doctrines defined by the Buddha to be empty, and as a result keep returning to the same old dwelling in the threefold world, with which we are already so familiar?
"Therefore, in the Hoben chapter in the first volume of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha says, 'Honestly discarding the provisional teachings, I will expound only the supreme Way.' This passage indicates that one should honestly discard the teachings that the Buddha set forth in the various sutras preached in the previous forty-two years, namely, the Nembutsu, Shingon, Zen and Ritsu doctrines to which you referred.
"The meaning of this passage is perfectly clear. And in addition, we have the warning delivered in the Hiyu chapter in the second volume, 'Desire only to receive and keep the scripture of the Great Vehicle, not accepting even a single verse from any of the other sutras.' This passage is saying that, no matter what year of the Buddha's life a sutra may have been preached in, one should not accept even a single verse from any of the sutras other than the Lotus Sutra.
"The varying doctrines of the eight sects are as numerous as so many orchids and chrysanthemums, and priests and lay believers differ in appearance, yet they all agree in claiming to cherish the Lotus Sutra. But how do they interpret these passages from the Lotus Sutra that I have just cited? These passages speak of 'honestly discarding' the earlier teachings and forbid one to accept so much as a single verse from any of the other sutras. But are the doctrines of Nembutsu, Shingon, Zen and Ritsu not based on the 'other sutras'?
"Now this sutra of Myoho-renge-kyo I have been speaking of represents the true reason why all Buddhas make their advent in the world and teaches the direct way to the attainment of Buddhahood for all beings. Shakyamuni Buddha entrusted it to his disciples, Taho Buddha testified to its veracity, and the various other Buddhas extended their tongues up to the Brahma Heaven, proclaiming, 'All that you [Shakyamuni Buddha] have expounded is the truth.' Every single character in this sutra represents the true intention of the Buddhas, and every dot of it is a source of aid to those who repeat the cycle of birth and death. There is not a single word in it that is untrue.
"Is not he who fails to heed the warnings of this sutra in effect cutting off the tongues of the Buddhas and deceiving the worthies and sages? This offense is truly fearful. Thus, in the second volume it says, 'One who refuses to take faith in this sutra and instead slanders it immediately destroys the seeds for becoming a Buddha in this world.' The meaning of this passage is that, if one turns his back on even one verse or one phrase of this sutra, he is guilty of a crime equal to that of killing all the Buddhas of the ten directions in the three existences of past, present and future.
"If we use the teachings of the sutras as a mirror in which to examine our present world, we will see that it is a difficult twill see that it is a difficult thing to find one who does not betray the Lotus Sutra. And if we understand the true meaning of these matters, we can see that even a person who merely refuses to have faith cannot avoid being reborn in the hell of incessant suffering. How much more so is this true, then, for someone like the eminent priest Honen, the founder of the Nembutsu sect, who urged people to discard the Lotus Sutra in favor of the Nembutsu! Where, may I ask, in all the five thousand or seven thousand volumes of sutras is there any passage that instructs us to discard the Lotus Sutra?
"The priest Shan-tao, who was revered as a practitioner who had mastered the Nembutsu meditation and honored as a living incarnation of Amida Buddha, designated five kinds of incorrect practices that are to be discarded and said of the Lotus Sutra that it cannot save 'one in a thousand'; by which he meant that if a thousand people put faith in that sutra, not a single one of them will attain Buddhahood. And yet the Lotus Sutra itself says, 'Among those who hear of this Law, there is not one who shall not attain Buddhahood.' This indicates that if they hear this sutra, then all beings in the Ten Worlds, along with their environments, will attain the Buddha Way. Hence the sutra predicts that Devadatta, though he has committed the five cardinal sins, will in the future become a Buddha called Heavenly King, and tells how the dragon king's daughter, though as a woman subject to the five obstacles and thought to be incapable of attaining Buddhahood, was able instantly to achieve enlightenment in the southern realm. Thus even the dung beetle can ascend through the six stages of practice and is in no way excluded from achieving Buddhahood.
"In fact, Shan-tao's words and the passages of the Lotus Sutra are as far apart as heaven and earth, as different as clouds from mud. Which one are we to follow? If we stop to ponder the logic of the matter, we will realize that Shan-tao is the deadly enemy of all Buddhas and sutras and the foe of wise priests and humble lay believers alike. If the words of the Lotus Sutra are true, then how can he escape the hell of incessant suffering?"
At these words, the unenlightened man flushed with anger and said, "You are a person of no more than humble station in life, and yet you dare to utter such ugly accusations! I find it very difficult to judge whether you speak out of true understanding or out of delusion, and to tell whether your words stand to reason or not. It behooves us to remember that the priest Shan-tao is said to have been a manifestation of Amida the Well Attained or of his attendant, Bodhisattva Seishi. And the same is said of the eminent priest Honen, or that he was a reincarnation of Shan-tao. These were both outstanding men of antiquity, and in addition they had acquired extraordinary merit through their religious practices and commanded the most profound degree of understanding. How could they possibly have fallen into the evil paths?"
The sage replied, "What you say is quite correct, and I too had great respect for these men and believed in them as you do. But in matters of Buddhist doctrine one cannot jump to conclusions simply on the basis of the eminence of the person involved. The words of the sutras are what must come first. Do not make light of a teaching just because the person who preaches it is of humble station. The fox of the kingdom of Bima who recited the twelve-character verse that goes, 'There are those who love life and hate death; there are those who love death and hate life,' was hailed as a teacher by the god Taishaku, and the demon who recited the sixteen-character verse that begins, 'All is changeable, nothing is constant,' was treated with great honor by Sessen Doji. This was done, however, not because the fox or the demon was of such eminence, but simply out of respect for the doctrines they taught.
"Therefore, in the sixth volume of the Nirvana Sutra, his final teaching delivered in the grove of sal trees, our merciful father, Lord Shakyamuni, said, 'Rely on the Law and not upon persons.' Even when great bodhisattvas such as Fugen and Monju, men who have returned to the stage just preceding full enlightenment, expound the Buddhist teachings, if they do not do so with the sutra text in hand, then one should not heed them.
"The Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai states, 'That which accords with the sutras is to be accepted and heeded. But put no faith in anything that in word or meaning fails to do so.' Here we see that one should accept what is clearly stated in the text of the sutras but discard anything that cannot be supported by the text. The Great Teacher Dengyo says, 'Depend upon the preachings of the Buddha and do not put faith in traditions handed down orally,' which expresses the same idea as the passage from T'ien-t'ai's commentary. And Bodhisattva Nagarjuna says, 'Rely on treatises that are faithful to the sutra; do not rely on those that distort the sutra.' This passage may be understood to mean that even among the various sutras, one should discard the provisional teachings put forth prior to the Lotus Sutra and put one's faith in this sutra, the Lotus. Thus both sutras and treatises make it perfectly clear that one should discard all scriptures other than the Lotus.
"Nowhere in all the five thousand or seven thousand volumes of sutras listed in the K'ai-yuan era catalogue do we find a single scriptural passage that expresses disapproval of the Lotus Sutra and advises one to discard it or to cast it aside, nor any passage that says it is to be classified among the incorrect practices and abandoned. [If you disagree,] you had better find some reliable passage from the sutras [that will support your view], so that you may rescue Shan-tao and Honen from their torments in the hell of incessant suffering.
"The practitioners of the Nembutsu in our present day, priests as well as ordinary lay men and women, not only violate the words of the sutras but also go against the instructions of their own teachers. Shan-tao produced a commentary in which he described five kinds of incorrect practices that should be abandoned by practitioners of the Nembutsu. Speaking of these incorrect practices, the Senchaku Shu says: 'Concerning the first of the incorrect practices, that of reading and reciting sutras, he [Shan-tao] states that with the exception of the recitation of the Kammuryoju Sutra and the other Pure Land sutras, the embracing, reading and recitation of all sutras, whether Mahayana or Hinayana, exoteric or esoteric, is to be regarded as an incorrect practice.... Concerning the third of the incorrect practices, that of worshiping, he states that with the exception of worshiping the Buddha Amida, the worshiping or honoring of any of the other Buddhas, bodhisattvas or deities of the heavenly and human worlds is to be regarded as an incorrect practice. Concerning the fourth of the incorrect practices, that of calling on the name, he states that with the exception of calling on the name of the Buddha Amida, calling on the name of any other Buddha, bodhisattva or deity of the heavenly and human worlds is to be regarded as an incorrect practice. Concerning the fifth of the incorrect practices, that of praising and giving offerings, he states that with the exception of praises and offerings directed to the Buddha Amida, the praising of and giving of offerings to any other Buddha, bodhisattva or deity of the heavenly and human worlds is to be regarded as an incorrect practice.'
"This passage of commentary is saying that with regard to the first incorrect practice, that of reading and reciting sutras, there are fixed rules for priests and lay believers of the Nembutsu, both men and women, concerning which sutras are to be read and which are not to be read. Among the sutras that are not to be read are the Lotus, Ninno, Yakushi, Daijuku, Hannya Shin, Tennyo Jobutsu and Hokuto Jumyo sutras, and, in particular, among the eight volumes of the Lotus Sutra, the so-called Kannon Sutra [actually the Kanzeon Bosatsu Fumon chapter], which is commonly read by so many people. If one reads so much as a single phrase or a single verse of these sutras, then, although he may be a devoted practitioner of the Nembutsu, he is in fact grouped among those who follow incorrect practices and cannot be reborn in the Pure Land. Yet now, as I observe the world with my own eyes, among those who chant the Nembutsu I see many people who read these various sutras, thus going against their teachers and thereby committing one of the seven cardinal sins.
In addition, in the passage concerning the third kind of incorrect practice, that of worshiping, it is said that with the exception of the worship of Amida flanked by two honored bodhisattvas, the worshiping or honoring of any of the earlier mentioned Buddhas, bodhisattvas or heavenly deities and benevolent gods is to be regarded as an incorrect practice and is forbidden to practitioners of the Nembutsu. But Japan is a land of the gods. It was created by the august deities Izanagi and Izanami, the Sun Goddess Amaterasu Omikami deigns to have her dwelling here, and the Mimosuso River for many long ages down to the present has continued to flow [through the grounds on which her shrine is located]. How could anyone who was born in this country heed such an erroneous doctrine! In addition, as we have been born under the all-encompassing sky and enjoy the benefits of the three kinds of luminous bodies, the sun, the moon and the stars, it would be a most fearful thing if we should show disrespect to the gods of these heavenly bodies.
"Again, in the passage concerning the fourth kind of incorrect practice, that of calling on the name, it says that there are certain names of Buddhas and bodhisattvas that the Nembutsu believer is to call on, and certain names of Buddhas and bodhisattvas that he is not to call on. The names he is to call on are those of the Buddha Amida and his two honored attendants. The names he is not to call on are those of Shakyamuni, Yakushi, Dainichi and the other Buddhas; those of Jizo, Fugen, Monju, the gods of the sun, moon and stars; the deities of the shrines in Izu and Hakone, Mishima Shrine, Kumano Shrine, and Haguro Shrine; the Sun Goddess Amaterasu Omikami; and the Great Bodhisattva Hachiman. If anyone so much as once recites any of these names, then, although he may recite the Nembutsu a hundred thousand or a million times, because he committed the error of calling on the name of one of these Buddhas, bodhisattvas, the gods of the sun and moon, and other deities, he will fall into the hell of incessant suffering and fail to be reborn in the Pure Land. But when I look about at the world, I find Nembutsu believers who call on the names of these various Buddhas, bodhisattvas, heavenly deities and benevolent gods. Thus, in this matter as well, they are going against the instructions of their own teachers.
"In the passage concerning the fifth incorrect practice, that of praising and giving offerings, the Nembutsu believer is enjoined to make offerings to the BuddhaNembutsu believer is enjoined to make offerings to the Buddha Amida and his two bodhisattva attendants. But if he should offer even a little bit of incense or a few flowers to the earlier mentioned Buddhas, bodhisattvas or heavenly deities and benevolent gods, then, although the merit he has gained from the Nembutsu practice may be laudable, because of the error he has committed, he is condemned to be classified among those who carry out incorrect practices. And yet, when I look around the world, I see the Nembutsu believers paying visits to various shrines and offering streamers of paper or cloth, or entering various Buddhist halls and bowing in reverence there. In this, too, they are going against the instructions of their teaSenchaku Shu. It is very clear on these points.
"Again, the Kannen Homon Sutra by the priest Shan-tao says, 'With regard to intoxicants, meat and the five strong-flavored foods, one must vow never to lay a hand on them, never to let his mouth taste them. One must pledge, "If I should go against these words, then may foul sores break out on both my body and mouth." The meaning of this passage is that the Nembutsu believers, men and women lay believers, nuns and priests alike, must not drink wine and must not eat fish or fowl. In addition, they must not eat any of the five strong-flavored foods, the pungent or strong-smelling foods such as leeks or garlic. If any Nembutsu believers fail to abide by this rule, then in their present life they will find foul sores breaking out on their bodies, and in the next life they will fall into the hell of incessant suffering. In fact, however, we find many Nembutsu laymen and laywomen, nuns and priests, who pay no heed to this prohibition but drink as much wine and eat as much fish and fowl as they please. They are in effect swallowing knives with which to wound themselves, are they not?"
Thereupon the unenlightened man said, "In truth, as I listen to your description of the doctrine, I can see that even if the Nembutsu teaching could in fact lead one to rebirth in the Pure Land, its observances and practices are very difficult to carry out. And of course, since the sutras and treatises upon which it is based all belong to the category of provisional expositions, it is perfectly clear that it can never lead to rebirth in the Pure Land. But surely there is no reason to repudiate the Shingon teachings. The Dainichi Sutra constitutes the secret teaching of Dainichi Buddha, the King of Enlightenment. It has been handed down in an unbroken line of transmission from Dainichi Buddha to Shan-wu-wei and Pu-k'ung. And in Japan the Great Teacher Kobo spread the teachings concerning the mandalas of the Diamond World and the Womb World. These are secret and arcane teachings that concern the thirty-seven honored ones. Therefore, the most profound doctrines of the exoteric teachings cannot compare even to the elementary stages of the esoteric teachings. Hence the Great Teacher Chisho, of the Later Toin Hall, stated in his commentary, 'Even the Lotus Sutra cannot compare [to the Dainichi Sutra], much less the other doctrines.' Now what is your view on this matter?"
The sage replied, "At first I too placed my trust in Dainichi Buddha and desired to carry out the teachings of the Shingon sect of esoteric Buddhism. But when I investigated the basic doctrines of the sect, I found that they are founded on views that in fact are a slander of the Law!
"The Great Teacher Kobo of Mount Koya, of whom you have spoken, was a teacher who lived in the time of Emperor Saga. He received a mandate from the emperor directing him to determine and explain the relative profundity of the various Buddhist teachings. In response, he produced a work in ten volumes entitled Jojushin Ron. Because this work is so broad and comprehensive, he made a condensation of it in three volumes, which bears the title Hizo Hoyaku. This work describes ten stages in the development of the mind, from the first stage, the 'mind of lowly man, goatish in its desire' to the last stage, the 'glorious mind, the most secret and sacred.' He assigns the Lotus Sutra to the eighth stage, the Kegon Sutra to the ninth stage, and the Shingon teachings [of the Dainichi Sutra] to the tenth stage. Thus he ranks the Lotus Sutra as inferior even to the Kegon Sutra, and as two stages below the Dainichi Sutra. In this work, he writes, 'Each vehicle that is put forward is claimed to be the vehicle of Buddhahood, but when examined from a later stage, they are all seen to be mere childish theory.' He also characterizes the Lotus Sutra as a work of 'wild words and ornate phrases,' and disparages Shakyamuni Buddha as being lost in the realm of darkness.
"As a result, Kobo's disciple in a later age, Shokaku-bo, the founder of the temple Dembo-in, was led to write that the Lotus Sutra is not fit even to be a sandal-bearer to the Dainichi Sutra, and that Shakyamuni Buddha is not worthy to serve as an ox-driver to Dainichi Buddha.
"Still your thoughts and listen to what I say! In all the five thousand or seven thousand volumes of sutras that the Buddha preached during his lifetime, or the three thousand or more volumes of the Confucian and Taoist scriptures, is there anywhere a passage clearly stating that the Lotus Sutra is a doctrine of 'childish theory,' or that it ranks two stages below the Dainichi Sutra, being inferior to the Kegon Sutra as well, or that Shakyamuni Buddha was lost in the realm of darkness and is not worthy even to serve as an ox-driver to Dainichi Buddha? And even if such a passage did exist, one would certainly have to examine it with great care!
"When the Buddhist sutras and teachings were brought from India to China, the manner of translation depended upon the inclination of the particular translator, and there were no fixed translations for the sutras and treatises. Hence the Learned Doctor Kumarajiva of the Later Ch'in dynasty always used to say, 'When I examine the Buddhist teachings as they exist in China, I find that in many cases they differ from the Sanskrit originals. If the sutra translations that I have produced are free from error, then, after I am dead and cremated, my body, since it is impure, will no doubt be consumed by the flames, but my tongue alone [with which I have expounded the true meaning of the sutras] will not be burned.' And when he was finally cremated, his body was reduced to a pile of bones, but his tongue alone remained, resting on top of a blue lotus blossom and emitting a brilliant light that outshone the rays of the sun. How wonderful a happening!
"Thus it came about that the translation of the Lotus Sutra made by the Learned Doctor Kumarajiva in particular spread easily throughout China. And that is why, when the Great Teacher Dengyo of Enryaku-ji attacked the teachings of the other sects, he refuted them by saying, 'We have proof in the fact that the tongue of the Learned Doctor Kumarajiva, the translator of the Lotus Sutra, was not consumed by the flames. The sutras that you rely upon are all in error!'
"Again, in the Nirvana Sutra the Buddha says, 'When my teachings are transmitted to other countries, many errors are bound to be introduced.' Even if among sutra passages we were to find the Lotus Sutra characterized as useless or Shakyamuni Buddha described as a Buddha who was lost in the realm of darkness, we should inquire very carefully to see whether the text that makes such statements belongs to the provisional or the true teaching, to the Mahayana or the Hinayana, whether it was preached in the earlier or the later part of the Buddha's life, and who the translator was.
"It is said that Lao Tzu and Confucius thought nine times before uttering a single word, or three times before uttering a single word. And Tan, the Duke of Chou, was so eager to receive his callers that he would spit out his food three times in the course of a meal and wring out his hair three times in the course of washing it [to show them the greatest courtesy]. If even the people described in the shallow, non-Buddhist writings behaved with such care and circumspection, then how much more so should those who study the profound doctrines of the Buddhist scriptures!
"Now nowhere in the sutras and treatises do we find the slightest evidence to support this contention [that the Lotus Sutra is inferior to the Dainichi Sutra]. The Great Teacher Kobo's own commentary says that one who slanders persons and disparages the Law will fall into the evil paths. A person like Kobo will invariably fall into hell-there can be no doubt of it."
The unenlightened man seemed to be dazed, and then suddenly began to sigh. After some time, he said, "The Great Teacher Kobo was an expert in both the Buddhist and non-Buddhist writings and a teacher and leader of the masses. In virtuous practices he excelled the others of his time, and his reputation was known everywhere. It is said that when he was in China, he hurled a three-pronged diamond-pounder all the way across the more than eighty thousand ri of the ocean until it reached Japan, and that when he expounded the meaning of the Heart Sutra, so many sufferers from the plague recovered their health that they filled the streets. Thus he was surely no ordinary person, but a manifestation of a Buddha in temporal form. We can hardly fail to hold him in esteem and put faith in his teachings."
The sage replied, "I at first thought the same way. But after I entered the path of the Buddha's teachings and began to distinguish what accords with its principles from what does not, I realized that the ability to perform miraculous acts at will does not necessarily constitute a basis for determining the truth or falsity of Buddhist teachings. That is why the Buddha laid down the rule that we should 'rely on the Law and not upon persons,' which I mentioned earlier.
"The ascetic Agastya poured the Ganges River into one ear and kept it there for twelve years, the ascetic Jinu drank the great ocean dry in a single day, Chang Chieh exhaled fog, and Luan Pa exhaled clouds. But this does not mean that they knew what is correct and what is not in the Buddhist teachings, or that they understood the principle of cause and effect. In China, when the Dharma Teacher Fa-yun lectured on the Lotus Sutra, in no time at all flowers came raining down from the heavens. But the Great Teacher Miao-lo said that although Fa-yun had produced such a response, his words were not in accord with the truth [of the Lotus Sutra]. Thus Miao-lo accused him of having failed to understand the truth of Buddhism.
"The Lotus Sutra rejects the three types of preaching--that done by the Buddha in the past, the present and the future. It refutes the sutras preached before it, saying that in them the Buddha had 'not yet revealed the truth.' It attacks the sutras of the same period by declaring itself superior to those 'now being preached,' and repudiates the sutras expounded later by stating that it excels all those 'to be preached.' In truth, the Lotus Sutra is first among all sutras preached in the three categories of past, present and future.
"In the fourth volume of the Lotus Sutra, we read, 'Yakuo, I tell you this. Among all the sutras that I preach, the Lotus Sutra holds first place.' This passage means that at the gathering on Eagle Peak the Buddha addressed Bodhisattva Yakuo and told him that, beginning with the Kegon Sutra and ending with the Nirvana Sutra, there were countless sutras numbering as many as the sands of the Ganges, but that among all these, the Lotus Sutra that he was then preaching held first place. But evidently the Great Teacher Kobo misread the word 'first' as 'third.'
"In the same volume of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha says, 'For the sake of the Buddha Way I have in countless different lands from the beginning until now widely preached various sutras, but among them this sutra is foremost.' This passage means that Shakyamuni Buddha has appeared in countless lands, taking different names and assuming varying life spans. And it establishes that, among all the sutras he has preached in the various forms in which he manifested himself, the Lotus Sutra holds first place.
"In the fifth volume of the Lotus Sutra it is stated that the Lotus Sutra 'holds the highest place,' making clear that this sutra stands above the Dainichi, Kongocho, and all the other countless sutras. But evidently the Great Teacher Kobo read this as 'holds the lowest place.' Thus Shakyamuni and Kobo, the Lotus Sutra and the Hizo Hoyaku, are in fact completely at odds with each other. Do you intend to reject Shakyamuni and follow Kobo? Or will you reject Kobo and follow Shakyamuni? Will you go against the text of the sutra and accept the words of an ordinary teacher? Or will you reject the words of an ordinary teacher and honor the golden words of the Buddha? Think carefully before you decide what to accept and what to reject!
"Furthermore, in the Yakuo chapter in volume seven, ten similes are offered in praise of the teachings of the Lotus Sutra. The first simile concerns water, and in it streams and rivers are likened to the other various sutras, and the great ocean to the Lotus Sutra. Thus if anyone should assert that the Dainichi Sutra is superior and the Lotus Sutra inferior, he is in effect saying that the great ocean holds less water than does a little stream! Everyone in the world today understands that the ocean exceeds the various rivers in size, and yet they fail to realize that the Lotus Sutra is the first among sutras.
"The second simile concerns mountains. Ordinary mountains are likened to the other sutras and Mount Sumeru to the Lotus Sutra. Mount Sumeru measures 168,000 yojana from top to bottom; what other mountain could compare with it? To say that the Dainichi Sutra is superior to the Lotus Sutra is like saying that Mount Fuji is bigger than Mount Sumeru.
"The third simile deals with the moon and stars. The other sutras are likened to the stars and the Lotus Sutra is likened to the moon. Comparing the moon and the stars, can anyone be in doubt as to which is superior?
"Later on in the series of similes, we read, 'In the same way, this sutra, the Lotus, holds first place among all the various sutras and doctrines, whether they were preached by Buddhas, by bodhisattvas or by shomon disciples.'
"This passage tells us that the Lotus Sutra is not only the foremost among all the doctrines preached by Shakyamuni Buddha in the course of his lifetime, but that it also holds first place among all the teachings and sutras preached by Buddhas such as Dainichi, Yakushi or Amida, and by bodhisattvas such as Fugen or Monju. Therefore, if anyone should assert that there exists a sutra superior to the Lotus, you must understand that he is expounding the views of the followers of non-Buddhist teachings or of the Devil of the Sixth Heaven.
"Moreover, as to the identity of Dainichi Buddha, when Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, who had been enlightened from remote ages past, for forty-two years dimmed his light and mingled with the dust of the world, adapting himself to the capacities of the people of the time, he, a Buddha who unites the three bodies in one, temporarily assumed the form of Vairochana. Therefore, when Shakyamuni Buddha revealed the true aspect of all phenomena, it became clear that Vairochana was a temporary form that Shakyamuni had manifested in response to the capacities of the people. For this reason, the Fugen Sutra says that Shakyamuni Buddha is given the name Vairochana Pervading Everywhere, and that the place where that Buddha lives is called Eternally Tranquil Light.
"Now the Lotus Sutra expounds the doctrines of the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds, ichinen sanzen, the unification of the three truths, and the inseparability of the four kinds of lands. Moreover, the very essence of all the sacred teachings expounded by Shakyamuni Buddha in his lifetime--the doctrines that persons of the two vehicles can achieve Buddhahood and that the Buddha attained enlightenment in the inconceivably remote past--is found only in this one sutra, the Lotus. Is there any mention of these most important matters in the three esoteric sutras you have been talking about, the Dainichi Sutra, the Kongocho Sutra and so forth? Shan-wu-wei and Pu-k'ung stole these most important doctrines from the Lotus Sutra and contrived to make them the essential points of their own sutras. But in fact this is a fraud; their own sutras and treatises contain no trace of these doctrines. You must make haste and remedy your thinking on this point!
"The fact is that the Dainichi Sutra includes each of the four types of teachings and expounds the kind of precepts whose benefit is exhausted when the bodily form comes to an end. It is a provisional teaching, designated by Chinese teachers as a sutra belonging to the Hodo category, the group of sutras which, according to T'ien-t'ai's classification, were preached in the third period. How shameful [to hold it above the Lotus]! If you really have a mind to pursue the Way, you must hurry and repent of your past errors! In the final analysis, this sutra of Myoho-renge-kyo sums up all the teachings and meditational practices of Shakyamuni Buddha's entire lifetime in a single moment of life, and encompasses all the living beings of the Ten Worlds and their environments in the three thousand realms."

Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man
PART TWO
At this, the unenlightened man looked somewhat mollified and said, "The words of the sutra are clear as a mirror; there is no room to doubt or question their meaning. But although the Lotus Sutra surpasses all the other sutras that the Buddha taught before, at the same time, or after, and represents the highest point in his preaching life, still it cannot compare with the single truth of Zen, which cannot be bound by words or confined in the text of a sutra, and which deals with the true nature of our minds. In effect, the realm where the countless doctrines are all cast aside and where words cannot reach is what is called the truth of Zen.
"Thus, on the banks of the Hiranyavati River, in the grove of sal trees, Shakyamuni Buddha stepped out of his golden coffin, twirled a flower, and when he saw Mahakashyapa's faint smile, entrusted this teaching of Zen to him. Since then, it has been handed down without any irregularity through a lineage of twenty-eight patriarchs in India, and was widely propagated by a succession of six patriarchs in China. Bodhidharma is the last of the twenty-eight patriarchs of India and the first of the six patriarchs of China. We must not allow this transmission to be lost, and founder in the nets of doctrine!
"So in the Daibontenno Mombutsu Ketsugi Sutra, the Buddha says, 'I have a subtle teaching concerning the Eye and Treasury of the True Law, the Wonderful Mind of Nirvana, the True Aspect of Reality That Is without Characteristics. It represents a separate transmission outside the sutras, independent of words or writing. I entrust it to Mahakashyapa.'
"Thus we see that this single truth of Zen was transmitted to Mahakashyapa apart from the sutras. All the teachings of the sutras are like a finger pointing at the moon. Once we have seen the moon, what use do we have for the finger? And once we have understood this single truth of Zen, the true nature of the mind, why should we concern ourselves any longer with the Buddha's teachings? Therefore a man of past times has said, 'The twelve divisions of the sutras are all idle writings.'
"If you will open and read the Platform Sutra of Hui-neng, the sixth patriarch of this sect, you will see that this is true. Once one has heard even a single word and thereby grasped and understood the truth, what use does he have for the teachings? But how are we to understand this principle?"
The sage replied, "You must first of all set aside the doctrines for the moment and consider the logic of the matter. Can anyone, without inquiring into the essential meaning of the Buddha's lifetime teachings or investigating the basic principles of the ten sects, presume to admonish the nation and teach others? This Zen that you are taking about is something that I have studied exhaustively for some time. In view of the extreme doctrines that it teaches, I must say that it is a highly distorted affair.
"There are three types of Zen, known respectively as Tathagata Zen, doctrinal Zen, and patriarchal Zen. What you are referring to is patriarchal Zen, and I would therefore like to give you a general idea of it. So listen, and understand what it is about.
"It speaks of transmitting something apart from the teachings. But apart from the teachings there are no principles, and apart from principles there are no teachings. Don't you understand the logic of this, that principles are none other than teachings and teachings none other than principles? This talk about the twirled flower, the faint smile, and something being entrusted to Mahakashyapa is in itself a teaching, and the four-character phrase about its being 'independent of words or writing' is likewise a teaching and a statement in words. This sort of talk has been around for a long while in both China and Japan. It may appear novel to you, but let me quote one or two passages that will clear up your misconceptions.
"Volume eleven of the Hochu states: 'If one says that we are not to hamper ourselves by the use of verbal expressions, then how, for even an instant in this saha world, can we carry on the Buddha's work? Do not the Zen followers themselves use verbal explanations when they are giving instruction to others? If one sets aside words and phrases, then there is no way to explain the meaning of emancipation, so how can anyone ever hear about it?'
"Farther on, we read: 'It is said that Bodhidarma came from the west and taught the "direct pointing to the mind of man" and "perceiving one's true nature and attaining Buddhahood." But are these same concepts not found in the Kegon Sutra and in the other Mahayana sutras? Alas, how can the people of our time be so foolish! You should all put faith in the teachings of the Buddha. The Buddhas, the Tathagatas, tell no lies!'
"To restate the meaning of this passage: if one objects that we are hampering ourselves with doctrinal writings and tying ourselves down with verbal explanations, and recommends a type of religious practice that is apart from the teachings of the sutras, then by what means are we to carry on the Buddha's work and make good causes in this saha world of ours? Even the followers of Zen, who advocate these views, themselves make use of words when instructing others. In addition, when one is trying to convey an understanding of the Buddhist Way, he cannot communicate the meaning if he sets aside words and phrases. Bodhidharma came to China from the west, pointed directly to people's minds, and declared that those minds were Buddha. But this principle is enunciated in various places even in the provisional Mahayana sutras that preceded the Lotus Sutra, such as the Kegon, Daijuku and Daihannya sutras. To treat it as such a rare and wonderful thing is too ridiculous for words. Alas, how can the people of our time be so distorted in their thinking! They should put their faith in the words of truth spoken by the Tathagata of perfect enlightenment and complete reward, wtreat it as such a rare and wonderful thing is too ridiculous for words. Alas, how
"In addition, the Great Teacher Miao-lo in the first volume of his Guketsu comments on this situation by saying, 'The people of today look with contempt on the sutra teachings and emphasize only the contemplation of truth, but they are making a great mistake, a great mistake indeed!'
"This passage applies to the people in the world today who put meditation on the mind and the dharmas first and do not delve into or study the teachings of the sutras. On the contrary, they despise the teachings and make light of the sutras. This passage is saying that this is a mistake.
"Moreover, I should point out that the Zen followers of the present age are confused as to the teachings of their own sect. If we open the pages of the Zoku Koso Den, we find that in the biography of the Great Teacher Bodhidharma, the first pa