Question: what indeed are the items that embody Myôhô renge kyô, the Sutra on the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma? [The vertical threads (Sutra) into which is woven the filament of the interdependence of cause, concomitancy and effect (Lotus Flower) of the entirety of the momentary configuration of events (Utterness of the Dharma)] Answer: it is the actual fundamental substance of the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma, which is namely the subjectivity and the dependent environment of the ten realms. Question: if it is so then should we not say that all the living beings such as we are also the total embodiment of the Utterness of the Dharma? Answer: of course. In the sutra it says, ‘What is referred to as all dharmas.’ The text continues until, ‘There is a final superlative that is equally present in the other nine such qualities.’ The Universal Teacher Myôraku explains this by saying, ‘The true aspect must imply all dharmas, all dharmas must imply the ten such qualities, the ten such qualities must imply the ten [psychological] realms of dharmas and the ten [psychological] realms of dharmas imply the body and its terrain.’ Tendai said, ‘It is only in the present sutra that all the dharmas of the ten such qualities and the ten [psychological] realms of dharmas of the three thousand are correctly put together.’ The Universal Teacher Nangaku said, ‘Why is it called Myôhô renge kyô, the Sutra on the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma? The answer is, because the Utterness is the Utterness of all beings and because the dharma is not separate from the dharmas of all beings.’ Tendai also makes this clear by saying, ‘The dharma of all beings is their Utterness.’

Question: if the actual fundamental substance of all sentient beings is not separate from the total substance of the Utterness of the Dharma, then are all the karmic causes and fruitions, from hell to the nine other realms, the make up of the Utterness of the Dharma? Answer: in the utterly imponderable underlying principle of the dharma nature there are the two dharmas of defilement and purity. When defiled dharmas seep through they become our delusions and when pure dharmas do the same they become enlightenment. Enlightenment is the Buddha realm whereas delusion is the characteristic of ordinary people. Even though these two dharmas of enlightenment and delusion are two, they are nevertheless the single principle of the real suchness of the dharma nature. For instance, if a lens made of quartz is held up to the sun’s disc, it draws down fire but if it is held up to the full moon, it draws down water. Even though the lens is a single entity the effect produced is not the same on account of the circumstances. It is, moreover, just the same with the principle of Utterness of the real suchness. Although it may be the principle of the real suchness of the single Utterness, it becomes a delusion when it meets with evil karmic circumstances and, on meeting with good karmic circumstances, it becomes enlightenment. Enlightenment is namely the dharma nature and delusion is unenlightenment. To give an example, it would be as though someone were to dream about various kinds of good and evil deeds but, on waking, he would think that it was a dream that he saw from his place in the oneness of mind. The oneness of mind is the single principle of the real suchness of the dharma nature. The good and evil are the delusions of unenlightenment and the enlightenment to the dharma nature. If it can be understood like this then one must cast away the evil delusions of unenlightenment and make one’s foundation the good awakening to the dharma nature.

In the Sutra Containing the Exhaustive Significance of the Universally and Perfectly Awakened Sutra it says, ‘The beginningless imaginings and unenlightenment of each and every living being is built from the all-inclusive and enlightened mind of each and every Tathâgata.’ In the Universal Desistance from Troublesome Worries in order to See Clearly of the Universal Teacher Tendai it says, ‘Unenlightenment and being perplexed and misled by appearances is fundamentally the nature of dharmas. It is because of that perplexity that causes appearances to beguile us into making the nature of the dharma turn into unenlightenment.’ The Universal Teacher Myôraku says, ‘The intrinsicality of the dharma nature is without substance, it is entirely due to unenlightenment. Unenlightenment is without substance, it is entirely due to the dharma nature.’ Unenlightenment is the delusion to be cast away; the dharma nature is the intrinsicality that we are to substantiate. How can you have doubts and ask if the fundamental substance is a oneness? You should know what these texts mean. The example of the dream in the ninety-fifth fascicle of the Universal Discourse and the example of the lens of the Tendai school are really fascinating. Evidently the proof of unenlightenment and the dharma nature being a single entity is in the Dharma Flower Sutra where it says, ‘The dharma state is the way dharmas are and is always present in the appearances of existential spaces.’ In the Universal Discourse it says, ‘Enlightenment and unenlightenment are neither different nor are they separate from each other, when things are understood this way it is called the middle way.’ But even though there are many textual proofs with regard to the two dharmas of defilement and purity in the true suchness of the utterly imponderable underlying principle, the sentence in the Flower Garland Sutra that says, ‘Mind, the Buddha and ordinary living beings are not three separate entities’ does not surpass the text of the real aspect of all dharmas in the Dharma Flower Sutra. The Universal Teacher Nangaku said, ‘Albeit that the fundamental substance of mind is completely endowed with the two dharmas of defilement and purity, but mind is devoid of different aspects and is consistently equable as a uniform state.’ Again the example of the clear mirror is indeed precise just as it is explained in the Universal Desistance from Troublesome Worries in order to See Clearly of the Universal Vehicle. For an effective explanation it says in the sixth fascicle of the Explanatory Notes on the Recondite Significance of the Dharma Flower, ‘When the three thousand exists in theory it is said to be the same as unenlightenment, when the fruition of the three thousand is accomplished everything everywhere can be referred to as eternal joy. When the three thousand existential spaces are devoid of change, then enlightenment is not separate from unenlightenment and when the three thousand is aligned with eternity, it is both the original substance and its function.’ This explanation is understandably clear.

Question: if all living beings, all of them and everywhere, are the actual fundamental substance of the Sutra on the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma, then are stupid, misguided, benighted, dull and common mortals such as we also the actual substance of the Utterness of the Dharma? Answer: even though there are many people in the present age, there are two sorts that come to the fore; that is to say those of the provisional teachings and those of the real teachings. However the people who have faith in the provisional teachings as an expedient means, such as the school that recites the prayer formula of Amida Buddha [Nembutsu], cannot be said to be the actual original substance of the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma. The people who have faith in the real teachings of the Dharma Flower Sutra are the actual fundamental substance of the embodiment of the utterness that is the true suchness of the Lotus Flower. In the Sutra on the Buddha’s Passing over to nirvana it says, ‘Because of all the living beings that have faith in the universal vehicle they are referred to as the people of the universal vehicle.’ The Universal Teacher Nangaku in his Implications of the Chapter on Practising with Peace and Joy quotes from the Sutra on the Universally Vital Zeal where it says that ‘living beings and the Tathâgata having in common the same dharma body which is incomparably wonderful, immaculately pure and is called the Sutra on the Dharma Flower of Utterness.’ It also says, ‘Since all the fruitions are simultaneously endowed in this oneness of mind and the single discipline of the practice of the Dharma Flower Sutra, it is not entered into by stages. In the same way as a single bloom of the lotus flower is furnished with all of its fruitions contemporaneously. This is what is meant by the living beings of the single vehicle.’ Again it says, ‘People of the two vehicles and bodhisattvas whose propensities are dull practice and study by stages. The bodhisattvas with keen propensities simply cast aside the expedient means and do not cultivate practices that evolve by degrees. These people are called the living beings of the single vehicle. With the substantiation of the samâdhi of the Dharma Flower there is the full endowment of all the fruitions everywhere.’ What Nangaku means by these explanations is that ‘the three words “practising by degrees” are intended for the present day scholars of the particular teaching (bekkyô). Because, naturally, this explanation is to emphasise the path of complete fulfilment of cause and fruition of the Dharma Flower that it stands in contrast to the paths of the expedient means that are referred to as “practising by degrees”. These are the All-inclusive Doctrines (enkyô) of the former teachings, all the sutras of the universal vehicle of the former teachings, as well as all the direct and gradual doctrines in the sutras of the universal and individual vehicles.’ The proof is in the Sutra on Incalculable Significance where it says, ‘Then, through the exposition of the twelve sections of the Equally Broad (Hôdô) Sutras, the Sutra on the Wisdom that Carries Sentient Beings to the Shores of Nirvana (Makahannya) and the sea of relativity of the Flower Garland (Kegon) sutras, the cultivation of practices that perpetuate through kalpas were proclaimed and discussed.’ The usage of the two ideograms for the concepts of ‘having in common’ and ‘the same’ in the Sutra on the Universally Vital Zeal became an inherited transmission. The people who have in common and the same belief in the Dharma Flower Sutra are the substance of the sutra on Utterness. Those who have nothing in common and are not the same are those who bear in mind the formula of Amida Buddha (Nembutsu) and since they turn their backs on the Buddha nature and the dharma body of the Tathâgata they are not the substance of the Sutra on Utterness.

What the implication of these texts suggests is that all the common mortals and holy persons of the provisional teachings of the three vehicles [(i) the hearers of the Buddha’s voice, (ii) those who are enlightened due to karmic circumstances, (iii) bodhisattvas], the five vehicles which are the same as the above but with the inclusion of the realms of dharmas of humankind and the devas, the people within the seven grades of expedient means, the people within the nine realms of dharmas, the people who are practising within the bounds of the doctrines of the Flower Garland (Kegon), the Teachings of the Individual Vehicle (Agon), the Equally Broad (Hôdô) or the Wisdom Doctrines (Hannya) or even the Teachings of the Three Receptacles, the Interrelated or the Particular cannot be designated as the living beings of the actual fundamental substance of the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma of the single vehicle. It is like this, even though the Buddha of the provisional teachings is a Buddha we cannot apply to him the illustrious term of the Buddha realm because the three bodies of the provisional teachings have not yet eluded transience. So how could we apply this illustrious term to the remaining existential spaces? Because these explanations imply that the inhuman kind of the final phase of the dharma inspire greater veneration than the rulers of state and great ministers of the two thousand years of the correct and formal phases of the Dharma. What it comes down to is that the actual fundamental substance of the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma are the disciples and supporters of the Nichiren, their bodies of flesh and blood are born of their parents and they believe in the Dharma Flower Sutra. Nangaku explains this by saying, ‘All living beings are fully endowed with the store of the dharma body which is at one with the Buddha without any discrepancy whatsoever. This is the reason why it says in the Dharma Flower Sutra, “Again, the immaculately pure and eternal eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind are just like this”.’ It also says, ‘The question is asked: in which sutra is it expounded that the eyes and all the organs of sense are referred to as being the Tathâgata?’ The answer is given: ‘In the Sutra on the Universally Vital Zeal both sentient beings and the Tathâgata, by having the same dharma body in common, are defined as the incomparably pure and immaculate Utterness of Myôhô renge kyô, the Sutra on the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma.’ Even though this sentence comes from a provisional text it is possible to provide references from that which was revealed in the text of the Dharma Flower Sutra that came later. The person who straightforwardly abandons the expedient means and holds faith solely in the Dharma Flower Sutra has his troublesome worries, karma and three paths of bitterness transformed into the three virtues of the dharma body, wisdom and deliverance. Then the triple insight of relativity, phenomena and the middle way are revealed as not being separate from the oneness of mind so that the place where such a person dwells is the Terrain of Eternal Silence and Enlightenment. The Buddha of the Lotus Flower of the actual original substance of the Chapter on the Lifespan of the original gateway who is able to abide in the place of abode and is the body and terrain, the materiality and mind which is endowed with the original substance and the function of the triple body independent of all action, is the concern that involves the disciples and supporters of Nichiren. This is indeed the actual original substance of the Dharma Flower and the manifestation of the meritorious power of the reaches of a mind free from resistance. In all events this is something about which you should have no doubts at all.

Question: the Universal Teacher Tendai is said to have expounded the meaning of the metaphorical White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma and the Lotus Flower of the actual fundamental substance, if this is so then what is intended by the metaphorical lotus flower and that of the actual fundamental substance? Answer: the metaphorical lotus flower is the threefold explanation of bestowing the truth through the provisional teachings, clearing away the provisional teachings in order to reveal the truth and then discarding all else of a provisional nature in order to establish the truth. This should be thoroughly examined. Asfor the Lotus Flower of the actual fundamental substance it says in the seventh fascicle of the Recondite Significance of the Dharma Flower, ‘When the lotus flower is not a metaphor it acquires the name of the actual fundamental substance. It is just like it was at the outset of kalpas when all things were without a name, at that time the Holy Man [Shônin], contemplating their intrinsicality, set up exact rules and made up words for each.’ It also says, ‘Now for argument’s sake let us take the metaphorical aspect away from the concept of lotus flower so that it becomes the dharma gateway of the Dharma Flower. Since the dharma gateway of the Dharma Flower is immaculately pure it is therefore the meticulousness and utterness of cause and effect. If we are to attach a name to this dharma gateway it becomes the Lotus Flower. Then, by applying a name to the actual substantiation of this samâdhi of the Dharma Flower it is by no means a simile or a metaphor.’ Again the text continues, ‘Question: is the lotus flower decisively the samâdhi of the Dharma Flower or is it conclusively the botanical lotus flower? Decidedly it is the dharmic lotus flower. As the dharmic lotus flower is difficult to understand the lotus flower as a plant is used as a metaphor. Those with sharp propensities, by understanding the principle that the name implies, have no need for similes or metaphors, all they need is to apprehend the Dharma Flower. Those of middling and lesser propensities do not yet have this awareness but the use of metaphor can make them realise it. By drawing a comparison with the lotus flower that is easy to understand they can relate it to the lotus bloom that is difficult to know. For this reason the dharma was preached in three stages so as to correspond to the needs of the superior, this was expressed in terms of the dharma; for those of middling and lower propensities the language of parables and metaphor was used. With the three propensities being jointly discussed, the dharma and the metaphor are designated as one. Who could possibly contradict the person who explains it in this way?’

The meaning of this explanation is that the ultimate intrinsicality is without a name. When the Holy Man (Shônin) contemplated the intrinsicality and attached a name to a myriad of things, as well as perceiving a interdependence of cause, concomtancy and effect of the unthinkably, unutterable single dharma. If we name it, it is Myôhô renge kyô, the Sutra on the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma. This single dharma of Myôhô renge kyô, the Sutra on the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma is furnished with all the dharmas of the ten realms and their three thousand existential spaces without leaving anything out. Those who cultivate themselves in this practice acquire both the Buddha cause and the Buddha fruition simultaneously. When the Holy Man (Shônin) became the teacher of this dharma by cultivating himself in the practice he became enlightened [satori] to the Buddha Path; he felt his attainment to the simultaneity of the utterness of the cause and the utterness of its fruition, because he had become the utterly enlightened and completely realised Tathâgata. For this reason the Universal Teacher Dengyô said, ‘The Myôhô renge kyô of the oneness of mind grows simultaneously with the bloom of cause and the calyx of fruition, it is the Lotus Flower of the actual fundamental substance. In each one of the three stages of the Buddha’s explanation of the dharma [first straightforwardly in its own technical language, secondly by means of a parable or thirdly the Buddha makes a reference to one of his former lives], at each one of these junctures we have both the metaphorical lotus flower and that of the fundamental substance. Generally speaking the Dharma Flower Sutra contains all the similes and metaphors as well as the actual fundamental substance. But when we come to the details such as the seven parables in the Dharma Flower Sutra [(i) the burning house and the three kinds of vehicles in the Third Chapter on Metaphors and Similes, (ii) the elder and the impoverished son in the Fourth Chapter on Faith leading to Understanding, (iii) the three plants and two trees in the Fifth Chapter on the Parable of the Medicinal Herbs, (iv) the imaginary city and the place of precious things in the Seventh Chapter on the Parable of the Imaginary City, (v) the jewel in the clothes lining in the Eighth Chapter on the Prediction of Enlightenment for Five Hundred Disciples, (vi) the jewel in the chignon in the Fourteenth Chapter on Practicing with Peace and with Joy, (vii) the good doctor who cures his sick children in the Sixteenth Chapter on the Lifespan of the Tathâgata], also we have the three simultaneous qualities [(i) the vehicles that lead to the Buddha enlightenment, (ii) the simultaneous quality of the existential realms and nirvana, (iii) the simultaneous quality of the entities of the Buddhas Tahô and Shākyamuni], not to mention the ten insuperable gateways to the Dharma [(i) the insuperability of the seeds of enlightenment of the Dharma Flower Sutra since they are the implantations of the ever-present primordial infinity, (ii) the insuperability of its practice since from the time of the Buddha Daitsu it has always been the virtue of the practice to be the All-inclusive replenished whole of the one instant of mind containing three thousand existential spaces, (iii) the insuperability of the extent of the Dharma Flower. Because ot its All-inclusiveness this sutra is the culmination of all the other sutras, (iv) the insuperability of what the Dharma Flower Sutra involves, because this sutra imparts the real principle of existence to sentient beings, (v) the insuperability of the immaculate purity of its abode and terrain, because the dharma realm of the Dharma Flower Sutra is the utterness of the abode and terrain of All the Buddhas, (vi) the insuperability of the theme of the Dharma Flower, this sutra is said to be the paramount of all the discourses of the Tathâgata, the most profound and therefore insuperable, (vii) the insuperability of the Dharma Flower Sutra to convert and teach that all sentient beings will be brought to the Buddha path through this sutra, (viii) the insuperability of the Dharma Flower Sutra to bring about total enlightenment, (ix) the insuperability of nirvana, the fundamental of the Dharma Flower is inherently infinite which is the essential characteristic of nirvana and therefore insuperable, (x) the insuperability of the reaches of Utterness, when the stupa of the Buddha Tahô first appeared he said that the sutric power of the Dharma Flower Sutra was beyond all other dharmas because it was imponderably inexplicable and utter]; all these are contained in the lotus flower of the actual fundamental substance. On putting a name to what the intrinsicality of this teaching implies, it is the Sutra on the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma.’ The Universal Teacher Myôraku said, ‘Most certainly it is through the seven parables that the provisional or the true significance of each Lotus Flower is to be compared.’ The text continues until, ‘Whatever way one looks at it the lotus flower is none other than the bestowing of the provisional for the sake of truth as well as opening the provisional so that the truth can be revealed. It is likewise with all the seven parables.’ Again, at the outset of kalpas this flowering plant existed, the Holy Man (Shônin), on seeing its intrinsicality, called it by the word ‘lotus flower’. The flowering plant was endowed with the interdependence of cause and effect and was similar to the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma; hence the plant that flowers is called the lotus flower. The red lotus flowers and the white lotus flowers that grow in the ponds, this botanical lotus flower, is the lotus of simile and metaphor. Thus it is through the flowering plant that the difficulty in understanding the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma is overcome. The Universal Teacher Tendai, when explaining this concept said, ‘The Utterness of the Dharma is hard to understand, but by using a simile for the sake of argument, the explanation is made easier.’

Question: who, since the outset of kalpas has attained to the substantiation of the lotus flower of the actual fundamental substance? Answer: Shākyamuni, since his attainment to the substantiation of the lotus flower of the actual fundamental substance of the Utterness of the Dharma prior to a period of time that would be the same amount of grains of dust that would go into the making of five hundred kalpas, has from existence to existence recited the attainment to the path and revealed the fundamental principle of being able to substantiate that which is to be substantiated. Again, when the Buddha was in the world he was born in the Kingdom of Magadha in central India, his desire was to reveal this lotus flower but neither the propensities of the people nor the time were appropriate. Because in the single Lotus Flower of the Dharma he had to differentiate three flowering plants in order to impart the provisional dharmas of the three vehicles, over a period of forty years he had to carefully protract his intentions so as to attract and induce people towards the truth. Since there was a myriad of diversities in the propensities and characters of the sentient beings of this period, he formulated several variations of the flowering plant but in the end was unable to impart the Lotus Flower of the Utterness of the Dharma. This is why it says in the Sutra on Incalculable Significance, ‘At first I sat at the site of the Path under the bodhi tree’, the text continues until, ‘After some forty years of preaching I had not yet revealed the truth.’ On arriving at the Dharma Flower Sutra Shākyamuni cast aside the various flowering plants of the lesser vehicle and the expedient means of the first four periods of his teaching [(i) the Flower Garland (Kegon), (ii) the Teachings of the Individual Vehicle (Agon), (iii) the Equally Broad Doctrine (Hôdô) and (iv) the period of the Wisdom Teachings (Hannya)], then he expounded only the single Lotus Flower of the Utterness of the Dharma. When he had cleared away the three flowering plants and revealed the single Lotus Flower of the Utterness of the Dharma, the faithful of the provisional doctrines of the three teachings of the first four periods arrived at the lotus flower of the cleared away proximity so as to reveal the distance rather than receiving the lotus flower of the first of the ten stages of the bodhisattva; instead they attained to the second, third or tenth stage or even attained to the lotus flower of the supreme fruition of the overall awakening or the awakening to utterness.

Question: which phrase in which chapter of the Dharma Flower Sutra is the lotus flower of the actual fundamental substance and the one that is metaphorical, unmistakably pointed-out and discussed? Answer: if we briefly discuss this from the viewpoint of the hearers of the three stages of the Buddha’s explanation of the dharma, (i) in terms of the dharma, (ii) by parables and (iii) by means of a story of the life of a past Buddha, then the whole of the Chapter on Expedient Means is entirely an exposition of the Lotus Flower of the actual fundamental substance. The Chapter on Similes and Metaphors and the Chapter on the Metaphor of the Imaginary City discuss the metaphorical lotus. However, the Chapter on Expedient Means is not devoid of the metaphorical lotus flower and the other chapters are not in default of the Lotus Flower of the actual fundamental substance.

Question: if that be so, then which text is it that strictly accounts for the lotus flower of the actual fundamental substance? Answer: it is the text of ‘The real aspect of all dharmas’ in the Chapter on Expedient Means. Question: by what means can I ascertain that this is in fact the text of the lotus flower of the actual fundamental substance? Answer: because Myôraku and Tendai, on quoting this particular text, explained it as the fundamental substance of the present sutra. Also the Universal Teacher Dengyô said in his explanations, ‘Nowadays scholars keep this explanation secret and do not reveal its name. However the name of this text is Myôhô renge kyô.’ ‘Question: what is regarded as the fundamental substance of the Dharma Flower Sutra? Answer : “The real aspect of all dharmas” is regarded as its fundamental substance.’ This explanation is understandably clear. There is also the manifest evidence of the triple body in the Chapter on the Stupa made of Precious Materials; in this we have an immediate proof. Then there are the bodhisattvas who spring up from the earth, or the Dragon King’s daughter becoming aware of her own Buddha nature without changing her personality. This is why the sutric text of the bodhisattvas that spring up from the earth and become an immediate proof is referred to as ‘like a lotus flower in the water’. Then the actual fundamental substance of these bodhisattvas was made known. Because of this the proof of the Dragon King’s daughter’s enlightenment is explained as, ‘On her arrival at the Spirit Vulture Peak she seated herself upon a thousand-petalled lotus flower as big as the wheel of a cart.’ Again, in the matter of the thirty-three or four bodies of Myô.on and Kannon, the explanation is, ‘If it were not due to their attainment to the substantiation of the karma of actions and thoughts that are free from delusion of the imponderably, inexplicable samâdhi of the Dharma Flower, then how were they able to manifest these thirty-three forms?’, or even the phrase ‘the manifestations of the existential spaces are ever-present and eternal’. All these quotations are textual evidence and are studied by scholars of the present age. Nevertheless it is needless to say that Nichiren’s real proof of the Lotus Flower of the actual fundamental substance comes from the text in the Chapter on Expedient Means and the part of the Chapter on the Reaches of the Mind of the Tathâgata where it says, ‘All the dharmas that are possesssed by the Tathâgata.’ The Universal Teacher Tendai, by quoting these texts, explained the present Sutra in terms of the five layers of recondite significance. This single text in particular is the textual proof.

Question: the immediate proof that you have just quoted is particularly outstanding. How is it then that you adhere to the text from the Chapter on the Reaches of the Mind of the Tathâgata? Answer: this single text being endowed with the deepest of implications is particularly inspiring.

Question: what are these deepest implications? Answer: this is because this text deals with Shākyamuni entrusting his original following who are the bodhisattvas that spring up from the earth with the conclusive essential of the transmission of the five ideograms of the actual fundamental substance, Myôhô renge kyô, to the Bodhisattva Jôgyô. The Tathâgata Shākyamuni of the real attainment in the primordial infinity whose desire was completed when he said, ‘Just as I had wished in the past and now is already fulfilled, all sentient beings on conversion will be set upon the Buddha Path.’ Since this is the passage where the Tathâgata, in order to expound the broad propagation during the fifth five hundred years period after his passing over to nirvana, called up the bodhisattvas who spring up from the earth and entrusted them with the lotus flower of the actual fundamental substance as its crucial point. This is also the passage where the Tathâgata whose devoutest wish was that the esoteric dharma to which he attained at the site of the path, should be accomplished by people such as we of the present and future of the final phase of the dharma to the genuine substantiation of the lotus flower of the actual fundamental substance. Of all people, the emissary of the Tathâgata cannot be anyone else other than the person who comes forth knowing this passage of the textual proof of the lotus flower of the actual fundamental substance. By being the truth it is an esoteric text, by being the truth it is a matter of universal concern, by being the truth it is to be venerated. Nam myôhô renge kyô, Nam myôhô renge kyô [the consecration of founding one’s life on the vertical threads of the sutra into which is woven the interdependence of cause, concomitancy and effect of the utterness of existence].

Question: what is the meaning of the present school? When all those people of the other schools come along, what is the textual evidence for the Lotus Flower of the actual fundamental substance, which particular passage of the Dharma Flower Sutra should we point out? Answer: at the beginning of the twenty-eight chapters there is the title Myôhô renge kyô, the Sutra on the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma. These are the words you must point out.

Question: how are we able to know that the title and theme of the twenty-eight chapters is the lotus flower of the fundamental substance? Because when the Universal Teacher Tendai was explaining the title he said that the lotus flower was a simile and a metaphor, so is not his explanation that of the metaphorical lotus flower? Answer: in the lotus flower of the title and theme both its actual fundamental substance and the similes and metaphors are expounded simultaneously. The explanations that Tendai gave during his lifetime were at the time for illustration in terms of simile and metaphor. In the first fascicle of his Recondite Significance of the Dharma Flower Tendai gives the six similes of the original and temporary gateways. In the seventh fascicle the actual fundamental substance is explained in the same way. Because Tendai accounted for both the viewpoints of the actual fundamental substance and that of the similes and metaphors in the theme and title of the Lotus Flower, on this account he does not fall into error.

Question: how are we able to know that the lotus flower of the theme and title is the simultaneous exposition of its similes and metaphors as well as it being the fundamental substance? When the Universal Teacher Nangaku gave an explanation of the five ideograms for Myôhô renge kyô, he said, ‘Because Utterness is the Utterness of sentient beings and its dharmas are the dharmas of sentient beings, the lotus flower [which is the interdependence of cause and effect] is provisionally applied to them as a simile and metaphor.’ How is it then that until now the explanations given by Nangaku and Tendai are those of the metaphorical lotus? Answer: both the explanations of Nangaku and Tendai are similar. Nevertheless, even though the simultaneous exposition of the actual fundamental substance and the similes and metaphors is not distinctly apparent in the sutric text, Nangaku and Tendai actually based their judgment and explanation of the implications of the simultaneous exposition on the arguments of Tenjin and Ryûju. In Tenjin’s Discourse on the Dharma Flower it says, ‘In the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma there are two different references, one has the meaning of the lotus coming out of the water.’ The text continues until, ‘...coming out of the mud. All the hearers of the voice and all the Tathâgatas who took part in the great assembly were seated upon lotus flowers like all the bodhisattvas. On hearing the Tathâgata discourse on the unexcelled wisdom and its immaculately pure environment determined by its own karma, was a metaphor for the substantiation of the Tathâgata’s repository of teachings that had not yet been disclosed. Secondly, when the lotus flower burst into bloom, because of all those people within the universal vehicle whose minds are cowardly, weak and unable to give rise to a mind of faith, the Tathâgata opens and reveals the purity and utterness of his dharma body in order to make them believe.’ The words ‘all the bodhisattvas’ imply all the bodhisattvas of the individual and universal teachings that came prior to the Dharma Flower, on their reaching the Dharma Flower Sutra their perception of the lotus flower of the Buddha becomes understandably clear as in the Discourse on the Dharma Flower. Because one should understand that ‘the attainment of the bodhisattvas to the various stages of practice’ were just expedient means. The Universal Teacher Tendai explains this text from the Discourse on the Dharma Flower in his Recondite Significance of the Dharma Flower, ‘In order to understand the meaning of the present discourse, if one is to say that as a sentient being the Buddha made manifest the immaculate utterness of his dharma body, then by opening and proclaiming this utterness of cause it becomes the flower of the lotus plant, if one is to say that in the midst of the great assembly the Tathâgata was seated upon a lotus flower, which by being the abode and terrain of the reward of utterness, becomes the lotus flower of the interdependence of cause and effect. Then, if the hearers of the voice attain an entrance to this dimension, it would immediately become the abode and terrain of the reward of utterness and become the lotus flower of the interdependence of cause and effect.’ Again, when Tendai justified in a detailed manner the simultaneous exposition of the actual fundamental substance and its similes and metaphors, he took the phrase from the Sutra on the Great Assembly, ‘I now bow in veneration to the lotus flower of the Buddha.’ As a statement to prove the point of the sentence from the Discourse on the Lotus Flower just quoted, he explains it as, ‘Because, according to the Sutra on the Great Assembly, the cause and effect of the practice of the dharma is in itself all the implications of the lotus flower, then, since the bodhisattvas are seated upon it, it must be the flower of causation. Because they bow to the Lotus Flower of the Buddha it must then be the flower of effect. If according to the Discourse on the Lotus Flower the dependent abode and terrain and reward become the lotus flower of the interdependence of cause and effect, then again the bodhisattvas, through their cultivation of the practice of the lotus flower of the interdependence of cause and effect, attained to the abode and terrain of this particular lotus flower as a reward. As indeed you should know, everything to do with subjectivity and its environment, as well as its cause and effect, are entirely the dharmas of this lotus flower. Then why should we indeed use metaphors to demonstrate it? It is for those people who are less sharp-witted who cannot understand the lotus flower, so we show them the mundane flower as an illustration. Why indeed should there be any objection to it?’ Again, it goes on to say, ‘If it was not for the lotus flower what means would there be to account for all the dharmas that come into being everywhere? It is because both the dharma and the metaphor are dealt with equally that it is called Myôhô renge kyô, the Sutra on the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma.’ In the Universal Discourse of the Bodhisattva Ryûju it says, ‘Both the dharmic and the metaphorical lotus flowers were presented at the same time.’ When the Universal Teacher Dengyô was explaining the two texts of the thesis of Tenjin and Ryûju he said, ‘The text in these discourses say that although the title is only Myôhô renge kyô, the Sutra on the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma, there are two categories of meaning. Although it is only referred to as the lotus flower, one cannot say that there are not two meanings. However to make them entirely identical with the dharma and the metaphor would be quite in order. If they were not identical then what else would one use for an explanation? This is why in the explanation of these discourses both the dharma and the metaphor are demonstrated conjointly. The Sutra on the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma of the oneness of mind grows simultaneously with the flower of cause and the calyx of fruition. The significance of this is hard to understand but by making use of an illustration it becomes easier. This teaching that is within the limits of the three realms where sentient beings have organs of sense as well as desires, where there is a physical dimension and realms where there is only mental activity is called Myôhô renge kyô, the Sutra on the Lotus Flower of the Utterness of the Dharma.’ The explanations and the meaning of the expository texts are understandably clear. You must look at what is written down. On account of the fact that it is neither wrapped up nor concealed, the significance of the simultaneous exposition becomes the ultimate meaning of these explanations which are understandably clear.

Generally speaking the meaning of the Dharma Flower Sutra implies that the simile and metaphor are not separate from the reality of dharmas and that the reality of dharmas is not separate from their metaphors and similes. Because the Universal Teacher Dengyô said, ‘Even though there are many metaphors and similes in the present sutra the overall metaphor consists of seven parables. These seven parables are not separate from their dharmic reality nor is the reality of the dharma separate from its metaphors and similes. Outside of its metaphors and similes there is no reality of the dharma. Outside the reality of the dharma there are no metaphors or similes. However the reality of dharmas is the intrinsic reality of the dharma nature. The metaphors and similes are therefore the practical side of the reality of the Utterness of the Dharma. Hence we say that the dharma and its metaphors are a single reality. The practical side is not separate from its intrinsic reality and its intrinsic reality is not separate from its practical side. It is on these premises that the Tendai school argues that all explanations with regard to the Dharma Flower Sutra have to be both dharmic and metaphoric at the same time.’ What these explanations imply is distinctly clear, so I will not go over them again.

Question: when the Tathâgata was in the world, who was able to attain to the substantiation of the Lotus Flower of the actual fundamental substance? Answer: one can generally say that during the periods of the direct, gradual and undetermined teachings of (i) the Flower Garland (Kegon) period, (ii) the period that was by and large composed of the Individual Vehicle (Agon) Doctrines, (iii) the Equally Broad (Hôdô) period and (iv) the period of the Wisdom (Hannya) Teachings, the three and five vehicles for imparting the dharma to men, devas, hearers of the Buddha’s voice, people enlightened due to karmic circumstances, also people who adhere to the seven categories of expedient means, and sentient beings who dwell within the nine realms of dharmas as well as the bodhisattvas and the Lord of the all-inclusive teachings that were implicit in the provisional doctrine and the Lord of the teaching of the Dharma Flower of the temporary gateway, none of them, with the sole exception of the Lord of the teaching of the Chapter on the Lifespan of the original gateway, had even heard of the expression of the lotus flower of the actual fundamental substance of the original gateway, let alone to have attained to its substantiation. The lotus flower of the unsurpassed enlightenment of clearing away the three vehicles in order to reveal the one, was not divulged until after some forty years of preaching. Hence the reason for the phrase, ‘Finally he was able to achieve unsurpassed enlightenment in the Sutra on Incalculable Significance.’ The lotus flower of clearing away the three vehicles in order to reveal the one of the temporary gateway was not expounded in the teachings prior to the Dharma Flower, let alone the clearing away of the proximity in order to reveal the distance, or the subtle integration of the objective realm and the subjective insight of the original terrain that is so hard to understand; or should Miroku, who was converted by the temporary teachings, have known that the lotus flower of the actual fundamental substance is fundamentally existing and is independent of all action?

Question: how is one able to know that the bodhisattvas of the all-inclusive teachings prior to the Dharma Flower or the bodhisattvas of the all-inclusive teachings of the temporary gateway did not attain to the substantiation of the original gateway? Answer: the bodhisattvas of the all-inclusive teachings prior to the Dharma Flower did not know the lotus flower of the temporary gateway and the bodhisattvas of the all-inclusive teachings of the temporary gateway were ignorant of the lotus flower of the original gateway. Tendai said, ‘Those who succeeded to the place of the provisional teachings did not know the colleagues that were converted through the temporary gateway and those who were converted through the temporary gateway did not know the colleagues who were converted through the teachings of the original gateway.’ It is said that the eighty thousand bodhisattvas of the former and temporary teachings that made up the great assembly of the present sutra wanted to hear about the path of fulfilment. The Universal Teacher Dengyô said, ‘Even though this is the direct path it is not the universally direct path.’ The meaning of this is made clear where he goes on to say, ‘Because they were not yet aware of the universally direct path to enlightenment.’ Albeit that the bodhisattvas of the teachings prior to the Dharma Flower and the temporary gateway had attained to their rightful share of partially destroying delusion and realising the principle in part, when they were confronted with the teachings of the original gateway with the destruction of their delusion being only partial, it was not a destruction of delusion that could ‘bestride upwards over the joints of the bamboo’ as in stages to the level of these highest teachings as it was still only fragmentary. Consequently the explanation for the phrase, ‘In various places in the teachings prior to the Dharma Flower and those of the temporary gateway bodhisattvas were able to attain access to the path’, gave rise to the expression ‘attaining access to the path directly’ at a time when the people of the two vehicles were discredited. But it was at the time of the original gateway when the great bodhisattvas of the teachings prior to the Dharma Flower and the temporary gateway attained to the substantiation of the lotus flower of the Buddha. The genuinely true destruction of delusions came about at the time of their hearing the one Chapter on the Lifespan. When the Universal Teacher Tendai explained the following text from the Chapter on Springing up from the Earth, ‘On account of the reaches of the mind of the Buddha, he made fifty small kalpas seem to all those at the great assembly as though they were half a day.’ He said that ‘Because the person who is aware of the primordial infinity, shortness is not separate from length so that it appears to be fifty small kalpas, to the bewildered who are unaware that in the primordial infinity length is based on shortness so they think of these kalpas as though they were half a day.’ Myôraku, taking up this argument said, ‘The bodhisattvas by having already broken through their unenlightenment are referred to as people who are aware of the primordial infinity. But the great assembly, by only being seated in the places of people of wisdom, are spoken of as those who are not yet aware of the primordial infinity.’ This explanation is understandably clear. It can be said that the bodhisattvas of the teachings prior to the Dharma Flower and those of the temporary gateway were yet bewildered and unaware of the primordial infinity, but apart from the bodhisattvas who spring up from the earth, there were no other persons who were aware of it. However, when the people of the present day Tendai school discuss the similarities and differences of the temporary and original teachings they say that there is no contradiction between the two. When they come to interpret this text they distort the truth by saying that there were people who were aware of the primordial infinity among those who were converted by the teachings of the temporary gateway. The sutric texts and the explanatory commentaries are understandably clear. How could they come to make such a distorted statement? According to the sutric text the bodhisattvas who spring up from the earth praised and extolled the Tathâgata for a period of fifty kalpas. Whereas it is recounted that the assembly on the Spirit Vulture Peak that had been converted by the temporary gateway thought of this period as though it were half a day. When Tendai made the confrontation with those who were aware of the primordial infinity and those who were not, he explained that the assembly of those who had been converted by the temporary teachings were those who were unaware on account of their thinking of this time span as half a day, which is nothing but a prejudiced viewpoint. The bodhisattvas who spring up from the earth were aware of the primordial infinity because their viewpoint of a time span of fifty small kalpas was the correct way of understanding it. Myôraku, on following this argument, explained that the bodhisattvas who had broken through their unenlightenment were those who were aware of the primordial infinity and those who were unaware of it were the bodhisattvas who had not yet broken through their own benightedness. What is in the text is intelligibly apparent. Those who would suggest that even though they were bodhisattvas who were converted through the former and temporary teachings, the bodhisattvas of the higher abodes had already broken through their unenlightenment. This is the kind of scholar who would make all the sutras that do not attain to the path read as those that do. Even though the teachings prior to the Dharma Flower and those of the temporary gateway were of a preparatory nature, there is also the Buddha who is utterly awakened and when the people yearned for the true Buddha of the Chapter on the Lifespan of the original gateway, it is said that those who were not yet aware of the primordial infinity were still placed in the seats of the wise. Since the triple body of the provisional teachings had not yet thrown off his transitory nature, he was therefore but an empty Buddha in a dream. When the people of the former teachings and those who were converted through the temporary gateway came to the original gateway they were still people who had not yet destroyed their delusions, correctly speaking their state would correspond to the first bodhisattva stage in the process of becoming a Buddha. Myôraku said in his explanations, ‘When the temporary gateway was cleared away so as to reveal the original, they all entered into the first bodhisattva stage in the process of becoming a Buddha.’ He also argued that ‘they were still placed in the seats of the wise.’ You should think about these two quotations at the same time. The people of the teachings prior to the Dharma Flower or those of the temporary gateway are said to be like a Buddha and bodhisattvas who were still unaware of the primordial infinity and who had not yet broken from their unenlightenment. This is an outright true fact. As you know, because of the exposition and revelation of the Chapter on the Lifespan of the original gateway, everyone in the whole assembly on the Spirit Vulture Peak attained to the substantiation of the lotus flower of the actual fundamental substance. The people of the two vehicles, those of incorrigible unbelief and those of a self-opinionated mentality, as well as women and people of an evil disposition, attained to the substantiation of the original Buddha. The Universal Teacher Dengyô on explaining the lotus flower of the universal and essential purpose of the appearance of the Buddha in this world said, ‘The universal and essential Dharma Flower being the justification and the circumstances for the sole purpose of the appearance of the Buddha in this world is in order that the lotus flower can be revealed. “Sole” implies the sole true practice; “universal” implies that its nature is universally extensive and “purpose” refers to the nature of the Dharma. When it comes to the final superlative it is none other than the wisdom, the practice and the all-embracing quality of the teaching that is within the three realms where sentient beings have organs of sense as well as desires, where there is a physical dimension and the realms where there is only mental activity. If the one vehicle can be reached then the people of the three vehicles, those of a self-opinionated mentality, those within the path and those who are outside it, those with unhappy desires and those who are hard-hearted, all of them everywhere will arrive at the stage of the enlightened wisdom of understanding all dharmas. This sole purpose of the appearance of the Tathâgata in this world is his clearing the way so as to reveal and enlighten people to enter into the wisdom and perception of the Buddha.’ This means that women, people of incorrigible belief, those of a self-opinionated mentality, the people of the two vehicles and extremely evil people who were on Spirit Vulture Peak attained to the substantiation of the Lotus Flower of the actual fundamental substance.

Question: at the present time of the final phase of the dharma, who has attained to the substantiation of the Dharma Flower of the actual fundamental substance? Answer: on looking at the realities of the present age, there are many people who have come to the realization of the fundamental substance of the hell of incessant suffering, yet there is not one who has attained to the substantiation of the Lotus Flower of the Buddha. This is due to beliefs in the expedient means of the provisional teachings that do not attain to the path and also on account of negative criticism with regard to the Lotus Flower of the actual fundamental substance which is the one that is genuine and true. The Buddha said in his preaching, ‘If a man in his disbelief destructively vilifies this sutra he will thereupon cut off the Buddha seeds from all his existential spaces.’ The text continues until, ‘At the end of this person’s life he will fall into the hell of incessant suffering.’ Tendai said, ‘This sutra opens up the Buddha seeds everywhere in the six paths of unenlightenment, if one were to slander this sutra it would mean that those seeds would be cut off.’ Nichiren says that this sutra disseminates the Buddha seeds throughout the ten [psychological] realms of dharmas, if one were to slander this sutra it would correspondingly imply that the Buddha seeds throughout those ten realms would be cut off. This person will decidedly fall into the hell of incessant suffering. How could he expect to get release?

On the other hand the sole gateway to the Dharma of Nichiren is that one simply cast aside the erroneous implications of the fallacious dharmas of the false teachers of the provisional teachings and straightaway put faith in the true significance of the correct dharma and the proper teacher so as to attain to the substantiation of the lotus flower of the actual fundamental substance which is the revelation of the actual fundamental substance of the utterly imponderable underlying principle of eternal silence and illumination. This comes about through believing the golden words of the Lord of the teaching of the Chapter on the Lifespan and by reciting Nam myôhô renge kyô [the consecration and founding of one’s life on the Sutra on the Lotus Flower of the Utterness of the Dharma which is the consecration of and the founding of one’s life on the vertical threads of the sutra into which is woven the filament of cause and effect of the utterness of existence].

Question: albeit that the Universal Teachers Nangaku, Tendai and Dengyô widely transmitted the Dharma Flower Sutra as the sole vehicle of the dharma teaching of the school of the all-inclusive doctrine, how is it that they had not yet recited Nam myôhô renge kyô? If this should be the case, were these Universal Teachers unaware of the actual fundamental substance or should we say that they had not attained to its substantiation? Answer: it is said that the Universal Teacher Nangaku was the bodhisattva incarnation of Kannon and the Universal Teacher Tendai was the bodhisattva incarnation of Yakuô. However, even though they attained to their substantiation when they heard the preaching of the Chapter on the Lifespan of the original gateway on the Spirit Vulture’s Peak, the period in which they lived was still one in which the influence of the teachings of the Buddha Shākyamuni was still valid and not in the time for the propagation of the Utterness of the Dharma. Therefore we could exchange the name and ideograms of the Utterness of the Dharma (Myôhô renge kyô) for the term ‘the desistance from troublesome worries’ which consists in the meditation of sitting still so as to set the mind at rest and to stop every thought that arises in order to dwell on the thought that nothing exists independently from the one instant of mind containing three thousand existential spaces or that an instant of mind contains simultaneously phenomena, relativity and the middle way. Nevertheless, as to those Universal Teachers reciting Nam myôhô renge kyô, it could be thought of as the genuineness and truth of the inner substantiation of their own practice. The Universal Teacher Nangaku says in his Confession of the Doctrine of the Dharma Flower, ‘Nam myôhô renge kyô, to consecrate and found one’s life to the Sutra on the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma.’ The Universal Teacher Tendai says, ‘I consecrate my life to the single vehicle of impartial wisdom of the Sutra on the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma.’ He also says, ‘I touch my head on the ground and make obeisance to the Sutra on the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma.’ And again he says, ‘To devote one’s life to, and found it on the Sutra on the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma.’ The Universal Teacher Dengyô, in his writings on the very last ten earthly wishes at one’s dying hour, uses ‘Nam myôhô renge kyô’.

Question: this textual evidence is understandably clear but why was it not propagated abroad just as it is? Answer: there are two reasons for this, firstly because the time was not yet ripe and secondly the Universal Teachers Tendai and Nangaku were not entrusted with this assignment. Broadly speaking the five ideograms for the Utterness of the Dharma is the universal white dharma which is to be disseminated during the final phase of the Dharma of Shākyamuni. It is the mission that was given to the countless numbers of great bodhisattvas who spring up from the earth. This is why Nangaku, Tendai and Dengyô did not propagate this teaching but remained aloof keeping their enlightenment to themselves since it was bequeathed to teachers and guides of the final phase of the Dharma of Shākyamuni.

Nichiren [formal signature]

Postscript to the Thesis on the Significance of the Actual Fundamental Substance

Question: because the lotus flower of the actual fundamental substance is difficult to understand, a metaphor is provisionally used to make it clear, what proof is there in the sutric text? Answer: in the sutra it says, ‘untainted by worldly affairs, just like a lotus flower in the water that has grown up through the mud.’ You should know the simile of the bodhisattvas that spring up from the earth being the lotus flower of the actual fundamental substance. At some later date I must write this all out again. As this gateway to the dharma is the intrinsic element of what is implied in the Sutra on Utterness it was also the fundamental intention of the Tathâgata Shākyamuni to entrust the great bodhisattvas who spring up from the earth with the assignment of broadly propagating the essential of this sutra during the final phase of his dharma. Even after the sovereign of the state is shown to have a mind of faith, this gateway to the dharma, from the very outset, must be the treasury of esoteric wisdom. Nichiren has ended this transmission to the Venerable Sairen.

Nichiren