THE DHARMA FLOWER SUTRA (Lotus Sutra) SEEN THROUGH THE ORAL TRANSMISSION OF NICHIREN DAISHŌNIN
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The Second Chapter on
Expedient Means

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (Important points)

The first important point concerning the Chapter on Expedient Means.

In the Textual Explanation of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke Mongu) it says the “means” of the Expedient Means has the implication of being esoteric and that the appropriateness of what is “expedient” in the Dharma is its Utterness. Therefore the means to effectuate Utterness is not separate from the esoteric quality of the Buddha truth.

If we are to underline the priceless jewel that was sown into the lining of the clothes of the man who was drunk on slander that is in the parable in the Eighth Chapter on the Prediction of Enlightenment for Five Hundred Disciples of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō), then this one and only jewel is neither separate nor is it different from the one in the king’s chignon in the Fourteenth Chapter on Practicing in Peace with Joy. This would point to the man that was hired as a menial who was neither different nor separate from the son of the elder in the parable in the Fourth Chapter on Faith Leading to Understanding of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō). These stories are referred to as being both esoteric and utterly all-embracing.

Just as it says in the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō), “It is only I the Buddha who understands the real aspect of all dharmas, which is their Utterness (Myō) or the one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces”, the Buddhas of the ten directions understand in exactly the same way. This is the same as when the Buddha said to Sharihotsu (Shariputra), “Stop, stop, there is no need to say anything since my Dharma is Utterness; it is difficult to think it out or ponder it over.” Both of these quotations come from the Second Chapter on Expedient Means of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō)..

Accordingly those parables are explained as their means (hō) being esoteric (hi) and their all-embracing quality or Utterness (Myō) being thought of as their expediency (ben).

No doubt this is the underlying significance of this chapter; hence it is called the Chapter on Expedient Means.

In the third volume of the Notes on the Textual Explanation of the Dharma Flower it says that the last of the three definitions of expedient means – 1) an expedient means as an application of the Dharma (hōyū), 2) an expedient means that can lead people towards the Buddha truth (nōtsū), and 3) an expedient means that is esoterically and utterly all-embracing (himyō) – is on account of its Utterness (Myō) its own implication of it (soku).

Also because the all-inclusive teachings are not separate from Utterness (Myō), the three provisional vehicles for the instruction of 1) the people who exert themselves to attain the highest stage of the teachings of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) through listening to the Buddha (shōmon, shrāvaka), 2) people who are partially enlightened due to a profound search for the meaning of existence (engaku, hyakushibutsu, pratyekabuddha) and 3) bodhisattvas who live, practise, and study for the benefit of other people or likewise the two doctrines of 1) the individual vehicle (zōkyō) and 2) the teachings that connect those of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) to those of the universal vehicle (tsūkyō) are all in contrast to the all-embracing quality of Utterness (Myō). Since there is the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō) that is the doctrine that is not separate from Utterness (Myō), these other teachings are in fact in contradiction to it.

It says in The Oral Transmission on the Meaning of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Ongi Kuden) that, in these commentaries, the priceless jewel sewn into the lining of the clothes of the man who got drunk is the same as the jewel in the sovereign’s chignon. The person who was hired as a menial is in no way different from the son of the elder. However, when we get to the bottom of things the people who vilify the Dharma and who have no faith in it are those who follow the provisional teachings that are outside the reality of what the Buddha teaching is about.

In fact there are two sorts of expedient means. They are 1) as an application of the Dharma which is an expedient means of using various dharmas that correspond to people’s propensities and biased views in order to lead them to the truth (hōyū) and 2) those expedient means of expounding the Dharma according to people’s propensities that can lead them towards the Buddha truth (nōtsū).

Here in the teaching of Nichiren the implication of “being neither different nor separate” as it is expressed in the Textual Explanation of the Dharma Flower (Hokke Mongu) has the undertone of the nine realms of dharmas not being separate from the Buddha Dharma and that the Dharma of the Buddha is not separate from the dharmas of the other nine realms of existence.

Now Nichiren and those that follow him reverently recite Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō and are within the bounds of the expedient means that are esoterically and utterly all-embracing (himyō) which is the ultimate reality of the Buddha truth. As a result it can be said that, after captioning the subject matter of the, Sutra on the Lotus Flower of the Utterness of the Dharma (Myōhō Renge Kyō), it is followed by the specification of the Chapter on Expedient Means.

Myōraku (Miao-lo) makes this clear in his Notes on the Textual Explanation of the Dharma Flower (Hokke Mongu) where Tendai (T’ien T’ai) states that the “not separate and can lead to Utterness”, in the phrase “not separate from (soku) reality”, implies that the all-inclusive teachings are not separate from Utterness; implies that which is all-inclusive, so it must be another name for the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō).

Not separate from Utterness means that ordinary people are not separate from the ultimate state of being, which is to be the Buddha of the real aspect of all dharmas. All-inclusive (en) means the one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces (ichinen sanzen). If the words for “not separate from Utterness (soku)” and “all-inclusive (en)” were to be exchanged with each other, they would be just another term for “Utterness (Myō)”.

All sentient beings being the Buddha of the real aspect of all dharmas are in fact Utterness itself and is something that cannot be thought out or deliberated over. But because the people who malign the Dharma are as yet ignorant of how things are, it is something that is referred to as being esoteric. The word esoteric implies the unsparing rigidity of the array of the three thousand existential spaces within our lives. There is nothing more imponderably unthinkable than this.

Even for people who are designated as those who belittle the Dharma in a big way, their decision to receive and hold to the Sutra on the Lotus Flower of the Utterness of the Dharma can also be thought of as the expedient means which is the esoteric Utterness of this sutra.

Now that we have entered the final period of the Dharma of Shākyamuni (mappō), this age undoubtedly involves Nichiren and his followers. The intention of the Chapter on Expedient Means is to induce the people who follow the teachings that came before the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō) along with their understanding of these doctrines to come round to the all-inclusive enlightenment of Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō by way of such expedient means. This process would imply becoming aware of our inherent Buddha nature with our persons just as they are, or, as is inferred from the Second Chapter on Expedient Means, from such an appearance (nyo ze sō) to such a consequence (nyo ze hō). In addition the Chapter on Expedient Means deals with the ten realms of dharmas (jikkai), as well as our unclearness and unenlightenment with regard to them.

The Sutra on the Lotus Flower of the Utterness of the Dharma (Myōhō Renge Kyō) refers to all of the ten [psychological] realms of dharmas, and at the same time it is what all dharmas really are. This sutra implies that our troublesome worries (bonnō, klesha) are not separate from our inherent enlightenment and the cycles of living and dying are not separate from the workings of existence.

“The all-inclusive teachings not being separate from Utterness (soku)” means that they are the one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces. Both Utterness (Myō) and the inseparability from it (soku) are the same concept. In other words, the one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces can be expressed by the concepts of “all-inclusiveness” and “Utterness.” All-inclusiveness means that it is the real aspect of all dharmas.

One of the explanations of all-inclusiveness points out that “All-inclusiveness refers to the all-inclusive unobstructed accommodation of materiality and form (ke), relativity of the mind (kū, shūnyatā) and noumena, and the reality of the middle way (chudō). At the same time all-inclusiveness is also the all-inclusive replenished whole of the one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces.”

The all-inclusiveness of the unobstructed accommodation of the materiality of form (ke), the relativity of the mind (kū, shūnyatā) and the reality of the middle way (chudō), which combines the two, alludes to the provisionality of the teachings that are derived from the external events of Shākyamuni’s life and work. On the other hand, the all-inclusiveness of the replenished whole of the one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces belongs to the archetypal truth of the teachings that deal with the original state.

Also the Universal Desistance from Troublesome Worries in order to See Clearly (Maka Shikan) explains these two dharmas as being the impermanency of physical existence (shiki) and the permanent quality of mind (shin). Putting the one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces into a single word is the esoteric property of the Tendai School (Eshin).

With regard to the Chinese ideogram for “all-inclusiveness (en)” the surrounding outer square represents a single instant of mental activity or thought, whereas the middle part of this ideogram which literally means “a number (kazu)” stands for the three thousand existential spaces that are contained in each single flash of mental activity. The one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces is in itself imponderably inexplicable.

The concept of Utterness was never expounded – in neither the straightforward teachings (ton), nor the gradual teachings (zen), nor even inthose that were a bit of both (fujō), all of which came before the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō). Hence this concept is said to be esoteric. So you should understand that Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō is an expedient means for expressing an instant of mind as the whole of existence and therefore contains for expediency three thousand existential spaces.

The Sutra on the Lotus Flower of the Utterness of the Dharma (Myōhō Renge Kyō) is the ninth cognition (daikushiki, amarashiki, amala-vijñāna) that is the immaculate essential of life itself. The ten [psychological] realms of dharmas describe the eighth consciousness as the storehouse of the mind (arayashiki, ālaya-vijñāna), as well as the faculty of thought (manoshiki, manas). This also includes the other seven mental consciousnesses and perceptions that follow.

I suggest you take this all into account. The “means” (hō) as in “expedient means” implies the ten directions of north, south, east, west, northwest, northeast, southeast, and southwest as well as above and below. What goes on in these ten directions is not separate from the ten [psychological] realms of dharmas and the expediency (ben) which is present everywhere indicates something that cannot be pondered over or even explained.

At that time the World Honoured One arose out of his total absorption into the Sutra on the Boundless Implications of the Dharma serenely and with a clear and precise mind. Then he informed Sharihotsu (Shariputra) that the wisdom and discernment of all the Buddhas is exceedingly deep and immeasurably wide. The gateway to that wisdom and discernment is difficult to fathom and difficult to enter.

The second important point concerning that the wisdom and discernment of all the Buddhas is exceedingly deep and immeasurably profound. The gateway to that wisdom and discernment is difficult to fathom and difficult to enter. None of those people who exert themselves to attain the highest stage of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) through listening to the Buddha or intellectual seekers (shōmon, shrāvaka) or even those who seek diligently enlightenment for themselves (engaku, hyakushibutsu, pratyekabuddha) are able to understand it.

The third volume of the Textual Explanation of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke Mongu) says, “The first part of the sentence on the wisdom and discernment of all the Buddhas being exceedingly deep and immeasurably wide pays tribute to the fundamental wisdom of the teachings that refer to reality.” Then this sentence goes on to pay regard to the wisdom and discernment of the provisional teachings, by saying that the gateway to that wisdom and discernment is difficult to fathom, and it is difficult to see what it really is.

Reality or the teachings that refer to it is the wisdom and discernment of all the Buddhas. Such teachings are not the three kinds of teaching that were simply used for getting people to think in the direction of the Buddha truths: 1) the teachings of the individual vehicle (zōkyo), 2) those doctrines that connect the individual vehicle to the universal vehicle (tsūgyō), and 3) those teachings that were specifically for bodhisattvas (bekkyō). Therefore the sutra refers to all the Buddhas in particular, since this wisdom and discernment is the manifestation and reality that every Buddha had cultivated.

The substance of this wisdom and discernment comprises the three kinds of wisdom in a single mind: 1) the wisdom of intellectual seekers (shōmon, shrāvaka, shrāvaka) and those who have a measure of individual enlightenment which helps them comprehend something of the real aspect of all dharmas (issai-chi), 2) the wisdom of the bodhisattvas who are able to lead other people onto the Buddha path on account of their understanding of what life is about (dōshu-chi) and 3) the wisdom of the Buddha who understands the whole and the individual aspects of life and death, as well as the real principle (Myō) that runs through everything (issaishu-chi).

Exceedingly deep and immeasurably profound are the words of esteem that refer to this wisdom and discernment. The Buddha’s mental grasp of reality can vertically penetrate the base and reveal the inherent principle in all things. Therefore it is referred to as being exceedingly deep. Horizontally this wisdom and discernment reaches the utter boundaries of the realms of dharmas, so that it is referred to as being immeasurable. Being exceedingly deep and immeasurably profound are the vertical height and horizontal breadth of this wisdom and discernment.

To illustrate this, if the roots of a tree reach down deep, then the foliage on its branches will be profuse in growth. If the source of the river is deep down then its flow will be far-reaching. The wisdom that applies to reality follows a similar pattern and so do the references to the wisdom of the provisional teachings.

The gateway to that wisdom and discernment which is mentioned in the title of this text is a sign of approval of the wisdom and discernment of the gateway of the doctrines that are provisional. After all, it is the strength of the wisdom of the path of expedient means that leads up to the enlightenment which the Buddha experienced himself.

For this reason it is called a gateway. It is a gateway through which one enters onto the path. Being on the path entails the teachings that deal with reality. Before arriving at the path indicates the doctrines that were provisionally taught for the time being. Difficult to understand and difficult to enter are again words of approval of the provisional doctrines.

What is difficult to understand and get into is Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō which is beyond our comprehension. But even though we can really grasp this concept, by means of the single word faith we can also become aware of its implications, as well as its innumerable practical applications.

Even for the people who are familiar with the wisdom embedded in the seven kinds of expedient means, it is overwhelming. Those people are the intellectual seekers (shōmon, shrāvaka,); the partially enlightened due to a profound search for the meaning of existence (engaku, hyakushibutsu, pratyekabuddha), and the bodhisattvas of both the teachings of the individual vehicle (zokyō), the teachings that connect the individual vehicle to the universal vehicle (tsūgyō), and also bodhisattvas of the teachings that were specifically preached for them (bekkyō).

The wisdom and discernment of the Buddha, by being exceedingly deep and immeasurably profound, cannot be gauged in any way whatsoever.

Out of the traditional fifty-two stages which people had to practise in order to become enlightened, it was only when they reached the third set of ten stages, which was that of bodhisattva wisdom, that they could begin to perceive what the Buddha wisdom and discernment was all about. When they arrived at the fifth set of ten stages, which was the grade of approaching Buddhahood, could they possibly say they were entering the wisdom and discernment of all the Buddhas?

Out of the first and last of these series of ten stages, it is during the stages in between, where people realised that this wisdom and discernment is difficult to attain and to become enlightened to.

Nevertheless the Second Chapter of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō) specifically points out that none of those people who exert themselves to attain the highest stage of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) through listening to the Buddha nor intellectual seekers (shōmon, shrāvaka) nor even people who are partially enlightened due to a profound search for the meaning of existence (engaku, hyakushibutsu, pratyekabuddha) are able to understand or are able to comprehend the wisdom and discernment of the Buddha, on account of the fact that such people are hampered by their heavy attachments. Therefore such impediments have to be eradicated.

In the third volume of the Notes on the Textual Explanation of the Dharma Flower Sutra, where it says, “being exceedingly deep and immeasurably wide refers to the vertical height and the horizontal breadth of this wisdom and discernment,” this means that in the midst of this exceeding height and immeasurable breadth there is the combination of Dharma parables and discourses that expound the wisdom of the teachings that refer to reality, as well as those of the provisional doctrines. Hence, this is an example to be followed.

Now, the teachings that refer to reality being the utmost vertical and horizontal reaches in all directions have already been stated, so it must follow that the provisional teachings are a theory that covers the facts and is identical in its extremities of dimension. The explanation of what the provisional teachings are is as follows, even though their particular qualities have been described earlier on. It is for this reason that the quotation of the commentary goes on to point out the following:

In the phrase where it says, “the gateway to that wisdom and discernment”, the word “that” points to the wisdom and discernment that was the cause of the ultimate realisation of concrete reality, which is the wisdom and discernment of all the Buddhas. If that wisdom and discernment mentioned here is, in other words, its own gateway then that wisdom and discernment must be that of the provisional doctrines that came before the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō). But if it is the gateway of wisdom and discernment then it must be the fruition of the provisional doctrines.

Therefore, between the two standpoints of the cause of the ultimate realisation in reality and the fruition of the cause, there are necessarily the ten particular stages of approaching Buddhahood. They are the last of the set of ten practises of the fifty-two stages in the process of becoming enlightened according to the practises of the Buddha teaching of Shākyamuni. These sets of ten kinds of practice out of fifty-two should be understood as an approach before entering the path.

Becoming awakened to Utterness is what happens on the path and is the proof of our efforts that manifests itself, after we have reached the path. Therefore you should understand that the meaning of the selected passage is to reveal that the cause is the new awareness that produces the change from doubt to faith.

The Oral Transmission on the Meaning of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Ongi Kuden) says that the text of the Textual Explanation of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke Mongu) by Tendai (T’ien T’ai) and the commentary on it which is the Notes on the Textual Explanation of the Dharma Flower Sutra by Myōraku (Miao-lo) are transparently understandable. In the expressions, “vertically penetrates the base and reveals the inherent principle in all things” and “horizontally this wisdom and discernment reaches the utmost boundaries of the realms of dharmas”, the vertical capacity of these reaches refers to the teachings of the original state (honmon) and the horizontal vastness of this wisdom and discernment appertains to the teachings that are derived from the external events of Shākyamuni’s life and work (shakumon).

[Since this horizontal vastness is referred to as being the realms of dharmas (hōkai) in the text which are in themselves impermanent, this is existence as we know it.]

The roots referred to earlier are those of plants and trees. Plants and trees grow upwards. Here this concept also entails the teachings that are derived from the external events of Shākyamuni’s life and work (shakumon).

[These teachings lead us upwards from their seed cause towards their fruition or enlightenment, in the same way as Shākyamuni’s ascetic practises led him to his historical Buddhahood.]

The source mentioned earlier on alludes to the teachings of the original state (honmon). Being a headwater it is water itself and runs downwards. This source implies the original state.

[It is true reality according to a profound search for the meaning of existence. The principle upon which the original enlightenment is based is that the fruition or the result faces towards the cause or is itself the uncreated principle independent of all action which is the very foundation of our lives.]

The profound growth of foliage on the branches represents the fourteen chapters of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō) that are derived from the external events of Shākyamuni’s life and work (shakumon). The far-reaching flow from the source stands for the fourteen chapters of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō) that refer to the archetypal original state (honmon).

The wisdom and discernment of the Buddha is made up of the three kinds of wisdom in a single mind: 1) the wisdom of intellectual seekers (issaichi) as well as those people who have a measure of individual enlightenment which helps them take in the real aspect of all dharmas (issaishu-chi), 2) the wisdom of bodhisattvas who are able to lead people onto the Buddha path on account of their understanding of what life is about (doshuchi), and 3) the wisdom of the Buddha who understands the whole of and individual aspects of life, as well as the real principle (Myō) that runs through everything (issaishu-chi).

The gateway is the place where we are able to enter this wisdom and discernment. What the essential content of the three kinds of wisdom in a single mind consists of is Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō which is the devotion of our lives to and their foundation on (Namu=Kimyō) the whereabouts (Kyō) of the interdependence of cause, concomitancy and effect (Renge) of the entirety of existence (Myōhō).

The gateway is a mind of faith, in the same way as it says in the third chapter of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō), “Sharihotsu (Shariputra) even you could by means of faith get into this particular sutra, not to mention other intellectual seekers (shōmon, shrāvaka) . . .” In this instance the word gateway has the same meaning as ‘going into’.

Now, when Nichiren and his followers reverently recite Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō, it is said to be their wisdom and discernment. As it says in the Third Chapter on Similes and Parables, “There is only a single gateway.”

With regard to gateways to the Dharma, there is the gateway that, in many of the teachings of the individual vehicle (zōkyō), suggests that existence is as it appears to be, simply as materiality (umon).

There is another gateway to the Dharma, in which many of its teachings which are those that connect those of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) to those of the universal vehicle (tsūgyō), that points out that existence is in fact the emptiness of the relativity (kū, shūnyatā) can only be reached through the mind (kūmon).

Also there is another gateway to the Dharma, which consists of teachings specifically for bodhisattvas (bekkyō), that proposes that existence is both just as it is or appears to be and at the same time it is the emptiness of relativity (kū, shūnyatā) that can only be reached through the mind (yaku’u yaku kūmon).

Furthermore there is the gateway to the Dharma of the all-inclusive teachings (engyō), that says that existence is neither just as it is or appears to be nor is it the emptiness of relativity (kū, shūnyatā), that can only be reached through the mind (hi’u hi kūmon).

The gateway to the Dharma, that suggests existence is just as it is, is life as it appears to be. The gateway to the Dharma that suggests that existence is the emptiness of relativity (kū, shūnyatā), that can only be reached by the mind, is death because of the absence of any materiality. The gateway to the Dharma, that states that existence is just as it appears to be, and, at the same time, it is the emptiness of relativity (kū, shūnyatā) that can only be reached through the mind entails the cycles of living and dying which are latent in every instant of the mind.

The gateway to the Dharma as propounded by the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō) is that existence is neither just as it is nor as it appears to be; nor is it the emptiness of the relativity (kū, shūnyatā) that can only be reached through the mind. It is neither paradoxically being alive nor dead but the quintessence of life itself.

The gateway to the Dharma, that points to existence being just as it is, is implied in the ideograms of the theme and title (daimoku) Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō, which is to devote our lives to and, at the same time, to establish them on (Namu=Kimyō) the Utterness of the Dharma (Myōhō) [entirety of existence, enlightenment and unenlightenment] permeated by the underlying white lotus flower-like mechanism of the interdependence of cause, concomitancy and effect (Renge) in its whereabouts of the ten [psychological] realms of dharmas (Kyō).

The gateway to the Dharma that points out that existence is the emptiness of relativity (kū, shūnyatā) that can only be reached through the mind, in light of the five ideograms of the title and theme, is that which lies underneath all the dharmas of existence without ignoring any single dimension whatsoever.

The gateway to the Dharma that proposes existence is both just as it is and what it appears to be and simultaneously includes the emptiness of relativity (kū, shūnyatā), which can only be reached through the mind, possesses the dual gateway of the teachings that are derived from the external events of Shākyamuni’s life and work, as well as the teachings that refer to the original archetypical state that is based on the existence of the Fundamental Buddhahood, in the Sixteenth Chapter on the Lifespan of the Tathāgata of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō).

Finally, the gateway to the Dharma as propounded by the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō) is that existence is neither just as it is, as it appears to be; nor is it the emptiness of relativity (kū, shūnyatā) that can only be reached through the mind. Instead, it is the integrated whole of the Sutra on the Lotus Flower of the Utterness of the Dharma (Myōhō Renge Kyō).

The wisdom and discernment of the people who exerted themselves to attain the highest stage of the teachings of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) through listening to the Buddha or simply intellectual seekers (shōmon, shrāvaka) who have yet to involve themselves in the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō) are incapable of arriving at this inner realisation that is their own assurance of the truth.

It says in the third volume of the Textual Explanation of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke Mongu), “even these people who are familiar with the seven kinds of expedient means”; That is to say, with regard to the intellectual seekers (shōmon, shrāvaka) and the people who are partially enlightened due to a profound search for the meaning of existence (engaku, hyakushibutsu, pratyekabuddha), the bodhisattvas of the teachings of the individual vehicle (zōkyō) and the teachings that connect the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) to those of the universal vehicle (tsūgyō) as well as the bodhisattvas of the teachings that were specifically preached for them (bekkyō), none of them are able to understand this inner enlightenment.

Now Nichiren and those that follow him have gained entrance into this wisdom and discernment. We can quote from the metric hymn in the Chapter on Expedient Means of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō), where it says, “apart from all the bodhisattvas with a strength of faith that is solid and firm”. This line applies to those who do the practices of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō).

All the people who exert themselves to attain the highest stage of the teachings of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) through listening to the Buddha or intellectual seekers (shōmon, shrāvaka) or the people who are partially enlightened due to a profound search for the meaning of existence (engaku, hyakushibutsu, pratyekabuddha), all of these people with what they know at present are unable to penetrate this wisdom and discernment.

Why is it so?

It is because the Buddhas as bodhisattvas have already attended on countless myriads of myriads of other Buddhas and have completed the incalculable amount of practises of the path of the Dharma. They have been courageously bold and have wanted to make progress in their practises with the purest intentions. Their names are universally known. They have brought to completion exceedingly deep dharmas that would take other people aback. The way they have explained the Dharma in order to suit other people’s circumstances is difficult for the mind to follow and see how they were able to do this.

Sharihotsu (Shariputra), ever since I have reached the stage of being enlightened, I have propounded on a large scale the teaching of the Buddha, through pointing out all sorts of causes and karmic circumstances as well as all sorts of parables and similes. Through incalculable expedient means, I have enticed sentient beings to let go of all their hang-ups.

Why is this so?

The Tathāgata is in full possession of the knowledge and farsightedness of how expedient means can take people from the dimensions of suffering to the shore of enlightenment.

Sharihotsu (Shariputra), the knowing and insight of the Tathāgata is as all-embracingly broad as it is deep. It cannot be measured and is without obstacles to hinder its universality. The strength, self-assurance, as well as the profound and abstract contemplation behind this knowing and insight, gives it the freedom from living and dying or karma and delusions, as well as a perfect absorption into any particular object of mediation. So the Buddha has penetrated depths without limits and without precedent. He has brought to complete realisation of all the dharmas [to become enlightened].

Sharihotsu (Shariputra), I will say this, so as to keep to the point; the Buddha has brought incalculably boundless dharmas that have never before been accomplished or fulfilled.

Stop, Sharihotsu (Shariputra), don’t say anything more. The reason is that what the Buddha brought to perfection is the most awe-inspiring primary, and difficultly understood Dharma. The real aspect of all dharmas can only be exhaustively scrutinised between one Buddha and another.

This real aspect of all dharmas is said to be (Sho’i shohō) in any way they make themselves present to any of our six sense organs – eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind [e.g., a carrot is orange; it tastes sweetish and may have a smell] (Nyoze sō), their various inner qualities [e.g., which include all the words associated with carrots, i.e., zanahoria, carotte, carota, ninjin, and all our memories of carrots; when we see this carrot, we unconsciously see a carrot, and both what we see and the associations in our heads automatically come together] (Nyoze shō), their substance or what they really are [which includes Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō] (Nyoze tai), their potential strength and energy (Nyoze riki), the manifestation of that energy and strength, which is their influence (Nyoze sa), their fundamental causes (Nyoze in), along with their karmic circumstances (Nyoze en), the effects they produce (Nyoze ka), and their apparent and karmic consequences (Nyoze hō); also in any way dharmas make themselves perceptible to any of our six sense organs – eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind – has a coherence with their “apparent karmic consequences”, which are present in every instant of life (Nyoze hon makku kyō tō).

There and then, the World Honoured One, wishing to express the significance of what he had said, once again explained it in terms of a metric hymn.

Such monks, nuns
and lay followers of both sexes
whose number comes to five thousand
are unaware
of their own faults.
They are negligent and slovenly
with regard to the monastic precepts
of how people of the clerical community (sō, sangha)
should behave.
They grudgingly hold on
to their faults and shortcomings.
Such scraps and leavings in the assembly
with their narrow-minded understanding
have already left.
On account of the awe-inspiring
virtue of the Buddha,
these people with barely sufficient
happiness or goodness
would be unfit
to receive this Dharma.
This assembly is not encumbered
by these superfluous twigs and unnecessary foliage.
Only the genuine,
pure and true remain.
Listen, Sharihotsu.
The Dharma
which all the Buddhas have attained
was expounded for the benefit
of sentient beings
by means of the impact
of innumerable expedient means.
The Buddhas understand everything
about what goes on in people’s minds
as well as the variety of paths
where their thoughts go
including all their various kinds of appetite.
As a result, the Buddhas
recount all sorts of stories
that have karmic affinities
parables and various ways
of expressing expedient means
so as to delight those who are listening.
The Buddha expounds sutras
and stories about their previous lives.
Also they recount the wonders
of the causes and karmic circumstances
that lie behind such tales.
Again through the medium of parables,
songs in verse that precede the prose (giya)
and sutras that are discourses and discussions
by question and answer (ubadaisha),
the Buddhas teach those with fewer propensities
who delight in the lesser vehicle
and are avidly attached
to the cycles of living and dying.
In spite of the innumerable Buddhas
they have never practised
the profound path of Utterness.
Since they are tormented
by all kinds of suffering,
the Buddhas teach them
about their total extinction
in nirvana.
I contrive these expedient means
in order that people may penetrate
the wisdom of the Buddha.
I have never yet expounded
that you will assuredly attain
the path of Buddhahood.
The reason
for not having yet expounded this Dharma
is because the time to explain it
had not yet come.
But now
it is indeed the moment
that I have decided
to expound the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna).
The nine divisions
of my teachings [which are 1) sutras that convey the teachings of the Buddha; 2) metric hymns that repeat the meaning of the passages in prose; 3) the past lives of the disciples of the Buddha; 4) the past lives of the Buddha himself; 5) tales of miracles performed by the Buddha; 6) historic narratives; 7) similes and parables; 8) songs which express the substance of the discourses; 9) discussions on the Dharma often in the form of questions and answers],
all these were expounded
in order to comply
with the needs of sentient beings.
But to enter the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna)
is fundamental.
Therefore I expound
this sutra.
It is for those
who hold faith
in the teaching of the Buddha
with a pure mind
as well as a mind
that is responsive
to the truth
along with a keen intellect
and who have practised
the deep path of Utterness
in the presence
of innumerable Buddhas.
It is for these people
who hold faith
in the teaching of enlightenment
that I expound this sutra
on the vehicle of universality.
I announce to such people
that they will realise
what the path of Buddhahood is
in lives to come.
Through deeply bearing the Buddha in mind
and on account of their holding to
the monastic precepts
on how people should behave
in the clerical community (sō, sangha)
without any default whatsoever
as well as on hearing that they too
will become enlightened
their persons become filled
with an overwhelming joy.
The Buddha knows their minds
as well as their comportment.
Therefore he expounds for their benefit
the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna).
If there are bodhisattvas
or hearers of the Buddha’s voice
or intellectual seekers
who listen to the Dharma
that the Buddha preaches
even if it is only
a single metric hymn,
there is no doubt about it
they will all become enlightened.
Throughout the ten directions
of the abodes
of the original Buddha enlightenment
there is only a single vehicle
of the Dharma.
There are neither two
nor are there three.
Apart from the expedient means
that are expounded by the Buddha,
which are only modes of expression
that the Buddha uses
in order to guide sentient beings,
it is for the sake
of the Buddhas’ explaining
their wisdom and discernment
that all the Buddhas
come into the world.
It is only
for this single pragmatic concern.
Any other concern
would not be real.
In the end
it will not be
through the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna)
that sentient beings will be saved
from the pain
of the realms of life and death.
The Buddha himself
abides in the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna)
which is his own attainment
of enlightenment of the Dharma.
Through the sublime majesty
of the wisdom and perfect absorption
into the single object of this meditation
he is able to ferry sentient beings (dosuru)
from the shores of living and dying
to the oneness of nirvana.
The Buddha himself
has borne witness
to the path that has no superior
and that is equal to the Dharma
of the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna).
If I were ever
to change the direction
of somebody’s life (ke suru)
by means of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna)
even if it were only one person
I would be mean
and grudging of the truth.
Such a thing would
not be possible.
If there are those
who base their life
on holding faith in the Buddha
they will not be deceived
or cheated by the Tathāgata.
Again, he has no mind
for being ungenerous
and jealously possessive.
He has cut off
all the evil dharmas
from his personality.
Therefore
out of the ten directions
of the compass
only the Buddha
is not afraid of anything.
My person is adorned
with my physical attributes (sō)
and my clear bright radiance
shines into the dimensions
where existence takes place.
I am venerated
by countless throngs of people
to whom I have explained
the essential (mudra, in)
of the real aspect of all dharmas.
[This is the one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces.]
Sharihotsu, this you should know.
I originally made a vow
wishing to enlighten all people
in the same way as myself
without any difference whatsoever.
That vow
has been already fulfilled.

The sixth important point: Far back in the past I took a vow wishing to enlighten all people in the same way as myself without any difference whatsoever. That vow has already been fulfilled.

In the fourth chapter of the Textual Explanation of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke Mongu) it says, “This indicates the original vow of the Buddha to become enlightened. This was to give people an incentive to hold to their faith.”

The Oral Transmission on the Meaning of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Ongi Kuden) says that the word “I” refers to the Shākyamuni who is embedded within the text of the Sixteenth Chapter on the Lifespan of the Tathāgata that belongs to the teachings of the original state. That Shākyamuni attained enlightenment in the ever-present infinite in time (kuon ganjo), since time is always at this actual point. This Tathāgata is none other than we who are ordinary people.

The word “myself” in the above expression “in the same way as myself” refers to the universal activity of the original Buddha which is represented by the last seven of the ten ways in which dharmas exist (jū nyoze).

[These are Nyoze riki, his potential strength and energy; Nyoze sa, the manifestation of that strength and energy; Nyoze in, the fundamental cause of existence; Nyoze en, the karmic circumstances that accompany the fundamental cause; Nyoze ka, the effects produced by the Buddha; Nyoze hō, effects that brings about apparent consequences; Nyoze hon makku kyō tō, all manifestations of Buddhahood, i.e., practise, nyoze sō with all the other seven ways in which dharmas exist right up to nyoze hō which is their apparent karmic consequences are equally present in every instant of life. Living beings that belong to the nine realms of dharmas (kukai) are represented by the first three of the ten ways in which dharmas exist: 1) Nyoze sō, the way they appear to our various senses; 2) Nyoze shō, their various inner qualities that can follow them after death; 3) Nyoze tai, their substance or what they really are.]

In view of the fact that we are all endowed with an inherent Buddha nature as well as a manifestation of life itself, this would point to our being the triple entity of the Tathāgata. From the very start, the Buddha is a sentient being in the same way as we are. So in this sense sentient existence is the parent and the Buddha as the incarnation of enlightenment is its offspring. Parent and child are both of the same makeup as sentient beings with an inherent Buddha nature. Therefore from the way they appear to our various senses (nyoze sō) as well as all the other seven ways in which dharmas exist right up to their apparent karmic consequences (nyoze hō), all are equally present in every instant of our lives (nyoze hon makku kyō tō). Hence they are ultimately equal.

Here, we ordinary people are described in the Sixteenth Chapter on the Lifespan of the Tathāgata as the triple body independent of all karma. This means 1) the way we appear (sō) which is the corresponding body of the Buddha (ōjin), 2) our inner nature (shō) as well as whatever might occur in our heads which is the entity of wisdom of the Buddha (hōshin); 3) these two former elements put together become our reality and environment (tai) which ultimately are the Dharma entity of the Buddha (hosshin) since our real existence is all space, all time simultaneously and effortlessly. The three entities of the Buddha are the essential basis of sentient existence that have always existed and are independent of any karma.

Now the followers of Nichiren are those who recite Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō. If we think about it, accordingly, we realise that both the general vows taken by Shākyamuni [vows to save all sentient beings without limit, to put an end to all troublesome worries (bonnō, klesha) however numerous, to study in order to know all the gateways of the Dharma to enlightenment without end, to bear witness to the Buddha path that has no superior] and the personal specific vow [to enlighten all people the same way as myself without any difference whatsoever] were sworn for the benefit of sentient beings such as we are. The reason for this is when Nichiren reverently recites Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō this recitation comprehends his vows to bring about the attainment of Buddhahood of all sentient beings of the world of humankind.

This however points indirectly to the vow of Shākyamuni in the sutric passage, “Far back in the past I took a vow wishing to enlighten all people in the same way as myself without any difference whatsoever.”

Nichiren as the Buddha of our time has led and guided people so that they are all in harmonious union with him. Then you should know that this oath alludes to the phrase that is the title passage quoted from the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō): “Far back in the past I took a vow wishing to enlighten all people in the same way as myself without any difference whatsoever. That vow has already been fulfilled.”

The word “already” in the quotation “has already been fulfilled” should be understood in terms of the Utterness of the time in question which must include the whole of the past, present and future, hence synchronicity. On the whole, the nuance of this word “already” in the explanations of Tendai (T’ien T’ai) is based on the real aspect of all dharmas. This would imply a synchronicity in which the three existential spaces in the one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces – [1) the existential spaces of the five aggregates (go ‘on seken), 2) the existential spaces of individual sentient beings (shujō seken) and 3) the existential spaces that are the environment where sentient beings live (kokudo seken)] – therse are not clearly defined.

As a result, synchronicity in the teachings of Tendai (T’ien T’ai) is theoretical, whereas, in the teachings of Nichiren, contemplating and entering into the nature of our minds and mind itself (kanjin) and the devotion to and the establishment of our lives on the place where the simultaneity of cause and effect occurs, which is the entirety of existence (Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō), is explained as the single entity of one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces. This is the totality of existence. Since existence entails this interdependence of cause, concomitancy and effect, this can only be a synchronicity in which the Buddha’s and Nichiren’s vow have already been fulfilled. This is the synchronicity of the oneness of the enlightenment that is inscribed on the Fundamental Object of Veneration (gohonzon).

Therefore the part of the sutric quotation that says “in the same way as myself without any difference whatsoever” is of vital importance. “In the past I took a vow” is the part of the quotation which implies from an especially synchronistic point of view the origin of fundamental cause as being its synchronistic Utterness, so that “in the same way as myself without any difference whatsoever” entails the synchronicity of the Utterness of fundamental effect.

The Shākyamuni who is awakened to Utterness (myōgaku) which is the Dharma realm of the Buddha (bukkai) is the concrete reality of our lives. Are they not the causes and the outcome of the Buddha’s deep religious practise, the quintessence of our being?

The commentary of Tendai (T’ien T’ai) says, “This indicates the original vow of the Buddha to become enlightened. This was to give people an incentive to hold on to their faith.” This points to the synchronistic Utterness of fundamental effect according to the logic of the simultaneity of cause and effect.

Now, when Nichiren recites Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō, he is bringing about the attainment of Buddhahood of sentient beings throughout the ten thousand years of the final period of the Dharma of Shākyamuni (mappō). Therefore how could it not be that this vow is already fulfilled?

The word “already” refers to the theme and title (daimoku) that was recited out loud for the first time on the twenty-eighth day of the fourth month of the fifth year of the era of the reign called Kenchō (1253). In this way we should think of this as something that has “already” happened.

There is no doubt about it, that by using the all-embracing, excellent medicine of the Utterness of the Dharma (Myōhō, Saddharma), Nichiren has cleared away the all-consuming illness of unenlightenment of all sentient beings. When we come to think of this, Nichiren has fulfilled his vow.

The word fulfilled also implies the concept of sentient beings attaining Buddhahood. There is a justification for this in the writings of Tendai (T’ien T’ai). The term “all-inclusive” means that the apparent identities of the immaterial and living beings are not separate from the all-inclusive, unobstructed accommodation of the way they affect our various senses (ke), the way we perceive them as a relativity that can only be reached from inside our brains (kū, shūnyatā) and the bridge between these two concepts which is the middle way of reality (chū). This is the Utterness of the Dharma (Myōhō, Saddharma). Then there is the attainment of the ultimate fruition in an instant that is at the same time its own Utterness. This is becoming aware of our inherent Buddha nature which is not separate from who we are now. This is something you should think about.

Through the instruction
that changes the lives
of all sentient beings
I set them all
onto the path of Buddhahood.
If I were to encounter sentient beings
and were to exhaustively instruct them
in the path of Buddhahood,
people who have no wisdom
and are insane and disorderly
as well as being confused
would not accept my instruction.
I am well aware
that these sentient beings
have never cultivated
a foundation for stability.
They obstinately hang on
to the five things they desire
which are property and wealth,
sexual love, eating and drinking,
fame and sleep.
It is because of these foolish likings
that bring about their distress,
on account of these causes
and karmic circumstances
of all desires, wants and needs,
that sentient beings
fall into the three evil paths
of transmigration
which are the hells and suffering,
the wanting and craving of hungry ghosts
and the stultifying limits of animality.
Through being incarnated
in the six conditions of sentient existence,
the various kinds of hell and suffering,
the wanting and craving of hungry ghosts,
the stultifying limits of being an animal,
the arrogance and anger of the shura (ashura),
the equanimity of humankind,
the transient ecstasies of the deva (ten),
such people receive again and again
the poison of their suffering.
The minute forms
that we received in the womb
constantly evolve and mature
from lifetime to lifetime.
They become people
with meager possibilities
to command respect.
With little chance of being happy
they are brutalised
through all kinds of suffering.
They become absorbed into the jungle
of mistaken ways of thinking.
They either think existence is real
or it does not exist at all.
They become involved in and depend on
the sixty-two heretical schools.
[These sixty-two heretical schools flourished at the time of the Buddha Shākyamuni. Roughly speaking, these heretical schools fall into two categories: 1) those who thought that the world is eternal along with the eternity of our identities (atman/ga), 2) those who thought of death as the end of everything.]
They become deeply attached
to unsubstantial and illogical dharmas
which they hold to
in an opinionated and prejudiced manner
so that they cannot give them up.
They become conceited, proud of themselves
as well as being obsequious.
But nevertheless they are hypocrites.
For thousands of myriads
of hundreds of thousands of years
they will never hear of
the expression “the Buddha”.
Moreover, nor will they hear
about the correct Dharma.
It will be difficult
to ferry such people
over the sea of incarnations
to the shore of nirvana.
This is why, Sharihotsu,
I have established expedient means
for the benefit of such people.
In order to teach them about the path
that is the elimination of suffering,
I show them that it comes about
through the concept of nirvana
as the total extinction of everything.
Even though I talk about nirvana
it is not the real extinction.
From the very origins
all dharmas have the inherent quality
of being in themselves
their own silence and extinction.
[This is the inherent relativity (kū, shūnyatā) that lies behind everything that exists.]
Those who hold faith
in the teaching of the Buddha
and who do the practices
of the path of enlightenment
will in future lives
attain the fruition of Buddhahood.
Through resorting to expedient means
I open the treasury of truth
and indicate the provisional meaning
of the three vehicles to enlightenment.
[They are 1) the people who exerted themselves to attain the highest stage of the teachings of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) through listening to the Buddha or the intellectual seekers of today (shōmon, shrāvaka); 2) those who strive for enlightenment for themselves and are partially awakened through the karmic circumstances of specialising in particular subjects such as the arts, science, psychology, etc. (engaku, hyakushibutsu, pratyekabuddha); 3) people who are conscious of and who struggle for the enlightenment of others (bosatsu).]
But each of the World Honoured Ones
all preach the single vehicle to enlightenment.
Now, all of you
who are in this great assembly
must indeed rid yourselves
of all doubts and perplexities.
There are no inconsistencies
in what the Buddhas say.
But there is only one
and not two vehicles to enlightenment.
Throughout the course of uncountable kalpas,
all the Buddhas
who have passed over
to the total extinction of nirvana
in all their hundreds of thousands
of myriads of varieties
whose number cannot be counted,
all these World Honoured Ones
have expounded
the aspects of all dharmas
by means of all sorts of tales
whose causes and their karmic relations
coincide with the Buddha’s life,
as well as parables
and the appropriateness
of expedient means.
Nevertheless,
those World Honoured Ones
all expound
the single vehicle to enlightenment.
Furthermore
they change the lives
of uncountable sentient beings
and set them onto the path
of Buddhahood.
Again, all the Lord Buddhas
who are universally wise,
good, upright and correct
in all their character
know the desires and wants
that go on in the depths of the minds
of the deva (ten), humankind
and all the various groups
of sentient existence,
by using further expedient means
as an aid to reveal
the supreme significance
of the Dharma.
If there are various kinds
of sentient beings
who have encountered Buddhas
in their past lives
and have listened to the Dharma
as well as having practised
the act of giving (fuse)
or have held to the precepts
of how people in the clergy should behave
as well as patience,
pure progress, perfect absorption
into the one object of meditation and wisdom
as well as having practised
all the various disciplines
that lead to the welfare
that arises from good deeds,
people such as this
are already set
upon the path to enlightenment.
If there are people
whose hearts are good and gentle
at the time after the Buddhas
have passed over
to the extinction of nirvana,
all sentient beings such as these
are already set
upon the path to enlightenment.
After the Buddhas have passed over
to the extinction of nirvana,
those people who make offerings
to the relics of the Buddhas
and build myriads
of different kinds of stupas
in such a way
that all are solemnly decorated
and covered with gold, silver and crystal,
coral, agate and lapis lazuli
or build temples out of stone
or sandalwood
or the wood of aloes,
anise or other timbers
or bricks or even mud and straw,
or if in the deserted wilds
they press earth together
so that it becomes a shrine
dedicated to the Buddha
or even when children are playing
and heap up sand
in the shape of a stupa,
all these people are already set
upon the path of enlightenment.
If there are individuals
who for the sake of the Buddha
erect statues and images of him
that are sculpted and carved
in a way that shows
all his auspicious characteristics,
all these people are already set
upon the path to enlightenment.
Some will make these images
out of seven precious materials [gold, silver, lapis lazuli, coral, amber, agate and cornelian]
or even with brass
or red or white copper,
fusible alloys
such as mixtures of lead and tin
or even iron, wood or clay.
Some artists will use
fish glue and shellac
to harden the fabrics
that adorn the Buddha images
that they have made.
All these people are already set
upon the path of enlightenment.
Those who paint
coloured representations of the Buddha
embellished with all his characteristics
which are every kind of happiness,
whether these images
were painted by the artists
or someone had commissioned them
to have these depictions made,
all these people are already set
upon the path to enlightenment.
Even those who in their childish play
draw images of the Buddha
either using brushes or twigs or straws
or even simply using their fingers
all the people such as these
by gradually accumulating merits
until their minds become filled
with universal compassion,
all these people are already set
upon the path of enlightenment.
But the only thing
that the Buddhas do
is to instruct
all the bodhisattvas
and ferry uncountable multitudes to freedom
from the bonds of delusion and suffering
in the three-dimensional space
where incarnate existence takes place (sangai).
[This is 1) where sentient beings have appetites and desires, 2) which are embodied in a subjective materiality with a physical environment who 3) at the same time are endowed with immateriality of fantasies, thoughts and ideas (sangai, triloka).]
Any people
who either in temples or stupas
or in front of painted images
make offerings
with a mind of piety
or have brought people
to make music
by beating drums
or blowing conch shells, flutes
or playing sitars and harps
or other stringed instruments
or using gongs and cymbals
in order to make symphonies
of wonderful sounds,
those people,
who have brought such music
for the sole purpose
of making an offering
with a heart of joy,
are already set
upon the path to enlightenment.
Or if there are people
with a heart of joy
who celebrate
the virtues of the Buddha
with hymns and canticles
or even one little sound,
all these people are already set
upon the path to enlightenment.
If there is anybody
who even with a single flower
makes an offering
to a painted image of the Buddha
that person
will gradually encounter
Buddhas without number.
If there is a person
who would render homage
to the Buddha
by only placing his palms together
or even by just raising his hand
or a simple nod of acquiescence
in such a way
through paying homage
to Buddha images
such persons will gradually encounter
Buddhas without number.
These people too will arrive
at the path that has no superior.
Also they will in turn
ferry countless sentient beings
from the dimensions
of delusion and suffering
to the shore of enlightenment.
Finally these persons
will also enter
the totality
of the extinction of nirvana
in the same way firewood
burns itself out.
If there are people whose minds
are confused or troubled
who go into temples and chant,
“I turn my life to
and devoted-heartedly to the Buddha” (namu butsu),
all these people are already set
upon the path of enlightenment.
If there are people
who have heard this Dharma
either from Buddhas of the past
or from the Buddhas of the present
or even after
their extinction into nirvana,
all these people are already set
upon the path to enlightenment.
All the World Honoured Ones
who in times yet to come
will be so many
that they cannot be counted,
all these Tathāgatas
will expound the Dharma
through the medium
of innumerable expedient means.
All the Tathāgatas
have ferried people
by the use of expedient means
from the dimensions
of delusions and suffering
to the shores
of the extinction of nirvana.
Also, these Tathāgatas
have induced sentient beings
to enter the wisdom
that is free
from any taint of delusion,
which is the wisdom of the Buddha.
If there is any person
who listens to the Dharma
there is not one of them
who will not attain enlightenment.
The original vows and wishes
of all the Buddhas
are that all sentient beings
cultivate the Buddha path
that the Buddhas themselves practise.
Furthermore they would like
all sentient beings everywhere
to arrive at the path
and become all the Buddhas
of the future.
These Buddhas in their turn will preach
hundreds of thousands of myriads
of uncountable gateways to the Dharma
which all will constitute
the single vehicle
to enlightenment.
All the Buddhas
who are the most honoured
of the two-legged beings
know that dharmas
are eternally devoid
of an independent nature
of their own.
This essential nature
which is the Dharma essence
is the omnipresent nature
of the whole of existence (hōjū)
with each individual dharma
abiding in its rightful place (hōi).
The seeds of fully being enlightened
to this fact
arise through karmic circumstances.
This is why the Buddhas explain
that there is only one vehicle
to enlightenment.
The essence of the Dharma
is the absolute reality (shinnyo)
which transcends the plurality
of the ten ways
in which dharmas
can become perceptible (jūnyoze).
It is the same
as the Dharma nature
and cannot
be expressed in words
or understood
by unenlightened humankind.
This is the underlying reality
upon which all existence depends,
whereas the spaces
in which existence takes place (seken)
are always the dimensions
where dharmas appear
to be what they seem.
In order that many people
may arrive at the place
of the attainment to the path,
guides and teachers
explain this truth
with the aid
of expedient means.
Humankind and deva (ten)
reverently make offerings
to the Buddhas
of the present time,
who are spread
throughout the ten directions.
Their number is comparable
to the number of grains
of sand of the Ganges.
[There is no thing that is not endowed with the one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces; hence every single dharma is a Buddha.]
They will appear
in the existential spaces (seken)
so as to give peace and relief
to sentient beings
and also to expound
the Dharma to them.
These guides and teachers
are aware of the primordial state
as being unconditioned
and entirely noiseless
that is far beyond
the states of living and dying.
The Buddhas use the impact
of expedient means
which even though
they give the impression
that there are multiple paths
to enlightenment
are in reality
the vehicle
of enlightenment of the Buddha.
The Buddhas know
how people behave
and what goes on
in the depths of their minds
along with habitual karma
that comes from their former lives.
They also know
their sexual desires,
their devotional qualities (shōshin)
and even the sharpness and bluntness
of their capabilities.
Therefore the Buddhas
use various narrative forms
in which the causes
and karmic circumstances
coincide
with their own former existences.
Also they use parables
and different ways
of expressing themselves,
as expedient means
that are adapted
for the hearers’ benefit.
Now, I Shākyamuni
in the same way
as the Buddhas of the past
use different gateways
to the Dharma
in order to propagate
the Buddha path
so as to give peace and relief
to sentient beings.
On account of my wisdom
I am aware
of the desires of sentient beings
that have become second nature.
Through the medium
of expedient means
I explain the Dharma
in order to make
all people happy.
Sharihotsu, you must know
that I use the eyes
of enlightenment
to contemplate the sentient beings
of the six worlds [in which individual minds slip from one to another: 1) the hells or suffering 2) the dimensions of the hungry ghosts, 3) animality, 4) the spheres of the titan like shura (ashura), 5) the habitats of humankind and 6) the realms of the deva].
Such beings are miserable, unhappy
and lacking in perceptive wisdom.
When they enter
the precipitous paths
of either life or death
their suffering continues
without respite.
Sentient beings
are deeply attached
to the five desires
of money or property, sexual love,
eating and drinking,
fame and renown and sleep.
In the same way as yaks
are in love with their tails,
overshadowed by delighting
in what they crave,
they see no further
than the darkness of the blind.
They neither seek the Buddha
who has the power
to break these attachments
nor do they seek dharmas
to end their suffering.
They fall into all
the perverse points of view
that are used
to end their suffering
through the means
of further pain.
When Shākyamuni
first sat at the place
of the path of enlightenment (Buddhagāya)
either contemplating the trees
or even sometimes
walking about when meditating
in order to prevent sleepiness,
then for a period
of twenty-one days
after becoming fully enlightened
the Buddha
walked around the bodhi tree
pondering over
how he should carry out
the salvation of all sentient beings
by means of the universal vehicles (daijō, mahāyāna).
The wisdom and discernment
that the Buddha had attained
is the most supreme subtlety
and utterness.
However, the propensities
of sentient beings
tend to be somewhat limited;
they become attached
to their pleasures
and their minds are blinded
by their stupidity.
Therefore, how do you ferry such people
from the shores of suffering
to that of nirvana?
Then, when the Buddha
became fully enlightened
all the deva sovereigns (ten’ ō, deva-rāja),
Taishaku the emperor of the deva (ten),
the four Celestial Kings
that are the guardians of existence
along with Daijizaiten (Shiva)
with a multitude of other deva (ten)
and their retinues
whose number would amount
to hundreds of thousands of myriads
all put their hands together in homage
and entreated the Buddha
to rotate the Wheel of the Dharma.
Then I, Shākyamuni,
thought to myself:
If I only praise
the Buddha vehicle to enlightenment
then sentient beings
who are submerged in their suffering
will be unable
to hold faith in this Dharma.
This would lead
to the defamation of it
on account of their lack of faith.
On these grounds
it would be better
not to expound
this dharma at all
and enter into
the total extinction of nirvana right away.
Then I remembered
the Buddhas of the past
with the power
of the expedient means
they had practised,
due to the path
of enlightenment
that I had now attained
which implies that I also
must expound the Dharma
in terms of the three vehicles
that lead people towards enlightenment.
[They are 1) those who exerted themselves to reach the highest stage of the teachings of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) through listening to the Buddha or the intellectual seekers of today (shōmon, shrāvaka), 2) the people who are partially enlightened usually on account of some kind of specialisation in the sciences, arts, music or philosophy (engaku, hyakushibutsu, pratyekabuddha) and 3) conscious beings of and for universal enlightenment (bosatsu).]
While these things
were going through my mind
all the Buddhas of the ten directions
appeared in front of me
to console and encourage
with their Brahman voices by saying:
“Well done, well done, Shākyamuni.
You as the foremost of guides
having attained
this unsurpassed wisdom
of total enlightenment
must in the same way
as all the other Buddhas
have recourse to the potency
of the various expedient means.
We as Buddhas
all have arrived
at the first and foremost
Dharma of Utterness
so that for the benefit
of all kinds of sentient beings
we had to,
in order to teach them about
the vehicle to enlightenment,
make the distinction
of three separate conveyances
as an expedient means.
These people
who have an incomplete wisdom
take great pleasure
in dharmas of little consequence
nor do they believe
that they themselves
can become enlightened.
Therefore with the aid
of expedient means
we pick out and discern
the feasibility
of the various fruitions
which are the result
of a combination of causes.
Again, even if we expounded
the Dharma in terms of the three vehicles
to enlightenment
they were only taught
for the sake of people
who were essentially bodhisattvas.”
Sharihotsu, this you should know.
After I, Shākyamuni,
had heard the profound,
pure and subtle voices
of the realisation of the Utterness
of these fearless Buddhas
who had appeared before me,
I then cried out in joy and said,
“I devote my life to and found it on
the Buddha enlightenment (namu butsu).”
This is what I Shākyamuni
thought at the time.
I have come into an age
of obscenity and badness.
Therefore I will act
in conformity
to what the former Buddhas
have preached.
After I had thought about these things,
I decided to go
in the direction of Benares.
I will not just say
that all dharmas are
in actual fact the silence
of the total extinction of nirvana.
I will explain this
to those five monks
who have accompanied me
throughout my practise
with the improvisation
of expedient means.
This is what is called
turning the wheel of the Dharma
which is the process
in which the Buddha mind
and its various faculties
discerns objects and ideas
that are the reverberation
of the perfect enlightenment
of the extinction of nirvana itself.
Hence such words and concepts
such as an “arakan” or “arhat” [who is a person who has attained the supreme reward of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna)]
or the “clerical community (sō, sangha)”
are simply distinctive expressions
of the enlightenment of the Buddha
in order to circumscribe
these mental images.
Ever since my enlightenment
in the remote past
which is always
the ever-present infinite in time (kuon ganjo)
I have always rendered homage to
and pointed out the Dharma
of the enlightenment
of the total extinction
of the sufferings
of existence in nirvana.
I have always expounded the means
to end the painful eternities
of cycles of living and dying.
Sharihotsu,
you must be fully aware
that I have seen people
who hold faith in and do
the practises of the Buddha
fervently seeking
the path of enlightenment
in the numberless thousands
of tens of thousands of myriads;
all with a mind of devout veneration
they come to the place
where I am.
They have reverently followed
other Buddhas
in former lives
and have listened to the Dharma
that was expounded
in terms of expedient means.
Then this thought
came into my mind;
the reason why Tathāgatas
come into the world
is in order to expound
the wisdom of the Buddha.
Now is the time
to do so.
Sharihotsu,
you must certainly be aware
that people
with dull propensities and meager wisdom
are attached
to their own thoughts and pride,
so that they are incapable
of believing this Dharma.
Now, full of joy
and devoid of fear
in the midst of the bodhisattvas
I shall renounce
all expedient means
and according to
the correct and direct way
solely expound
the unsurpassed path
of enlightenment.

The seventh important point, “In the midst of all the bodhisattvas I shall renounce all expedient means and according to the correct and straight way solely expound the unsurpassed path of enlightenment.”

In the fourth volume of the Textual Explanation of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke Mongu) it says, “The three sentences that come after the phrase 'in the midst of bodhisattvas' refer to the exact moment when Shākyamuni decided to reveal the teaching that embodies the truth.” The five vehicles to enlightenment that were designated 1) for humankind in general, 2) for the deva (ten), 3) for the people who strove to attain the highest stages of the teachings of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna) through listening to the Buddha (shōmon, shrāvaka), 4) for people who are partially enlightened due to a profound search for the meaning of existence (engaku, hyakushibutsu, pratyekabuddha) or 5) for beings who according to the teachings of Shākyamuni were destined for enlightenment (bosatsu), all these doctrines were complex and indirect.

The intermediate teaching (tsūgyō) connects the individual to the universal vehicle (daijō, mahāyāna) and is common to the three vehicles.

[They are those who listen to the Buddha (shōmon, shrāvaka), those who are partially enlightened due to a profound search for the meaning of existence (engaku, hyakushibutsu, pratyekabuddha) also the bodhisattvas (bosatsu) along with the particular teaching (bekkyō) which is different from the other three of the four kinds of teaching and was destined for the bodhisattvas of Shākyamuni’s time only. Both of these two doctrines are one-sided and incomplete.]

They are not the correct and direct way which has discarded all expedient means. But ever since the Buddha has renounced all these biased and labyrinthine teachings, he has only in a direct manner preached the single path of enlightenment.

The Oral Transmission on the Meaning of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Ongi Kuden) says that the bodhisattvas referred to in the quotation above are the bodhisattvas that inhabit the ninth of the ten [psychological] realms of dharmas (jikkai) which is the psychological dimension of the third of the three vehicles, that is of those who seek enlightenment not only for themselves but also for all humankind (bosatsu kai). Again bodhisattvas are said to be all sentient beings. Now the word bodhisattva refers to Nichiren and those who follow him. Furthermore all deva (ten) [that are usually understood as the Brahmanic gods] and the spirits of good [which is a term that refers to all the various local divinities] are said to be bodhisattvas as well.

The correct and direct way which has discarded all expedient means implies that our troublesome worries (bonnō, klesha) are none other than existence in the sense of the one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces (ichinen sanzen) which is not separate from the enlightenment of the Buddha.

Nor are the cycles of living and dying separate from nirvana as understood as the state of enlightenment attained by Shākyamuni and other Buddhas.

Therefore the single path of enlightenment mentioned earlier in the quotation is Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō, which entails the founding of our lives on and devoting them to (Nam) the Utterness of the Dharma (Myōhō) [entirety of existence, enlightenment and unenlightenment] permeated by the underlying white lotus flower-like mechanism of the interdependence of cause, concomitancy and effect (Renge) in its whereabouts of the ten [psychological] realms of dharmas [which is every possible psychological wavelength] (Kyō).

Are not the people at this time of the final phase of the Dharma of Shākyamuni (mappō), which entails Nichiren and his followers, those who propagate the correct and direct way of the single path to enlightenment?

The bodhisattvas
on hearing this Dharma
will free themselves
from the entanglements of doubt.
One thousand two hundred people
who have attained
the supreme reward
of the individual vehicle (shōjō, hīnayāna)
will certainly reap
the harvest of enlightenment.
In the same way as all the Buddhas
of the past, present and future
have gone about expounding this Dharma,
the Buddhas come into this world
between very long intervals
and it is not easy
to be able to meet them.
Even when they are in the world
it is still difficult
for the Buddhas
to expound this Dharma.
During uncountable and innumerable kalpas
it is also difficult
to find somebody who is capable
of directing his attention
to this Dharma,
just like the blossom of the udumbara tree
which is said to flower
only every three thousand years
and is admired and enjoyed by everybody,
a rare event
even among the deva (ten) and humankind
that only occurs from time to time.
Those that listen to
and hear this Dharma
exalt in it and are full of praise
even though it may only be
a single word.
Would this not be due
to having already made offerings
to the Buddhas
of the past, present and future?
Such people are seldom met with
in the same way
as the flowering of the udumbara tree
is infrequent.
You must have no doubt
about what I Shākyamuni
am proclaiming.
This is the sovereign of Dharmas
that is universally spread
to all these multitudes.
It is only through the means
of the path of the single vehicle
that I instruct and change
the lives of all bodhisattvas.
There is no one among the people
that listen to me (shōmon, shrāvaka)
or my disciples
who is like you, Sharihotsu,
or the bodhisattvas.
You must already know
that the Utterness of the Dharma (Myōhō, Saddharma)
is the essential
of my esoteric doctrine (hiyō).
During the periods that are afflicted
by the five workings of evil [which are 1) war, pestilence and natural disasters, 2) a time when distorted views flourish, 3) a period when people are overwhelmed by their lusts, 4) as well as the degeneration of the quality of life, 5) when people become addicted only to the pleasure of the senses]
such people will never seek
the path of enlightenment.
When the people
in the ages that are to come
who are given over to iniquity
hear of the single vehicle
that is expounded by the Buddha,
such people,
bewildered and confused as they are,
will be unable to accept
or have faith in such a Dharma.
Instead they will negate it
and fall into the more unfortunate paths of rebirth.
[This means in the hells, as a hungry ghost or as an animal.]

The eighth important point, concerning, “When people in the ages that are to come who are given over to iniquity hear of the single vehicle that is expounded by the Buddha, such people, bewildered and confused as they are, will be unable to accept or have faith in such a Dharma. Instead they will negate it and fall into the more unfortunate paths of rebirth.”

The Oral Transmission on the Meaning of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Ongi Kuden) states that the phrase “in the ages that are to come” from the above quotation refers to the final fifth five-hundred-year period after the Buddha Shākyamuni passed over to the complete extinction of nirvana. This is also seen as the final phase of the Dharma of Shākyamuni (mappō).

The phrase “people given over to iniquity” from the same quotation refers to personages such as Hōnen [1133-1212 C.E. who was the founder of the Pure Land School (Jōdo Shū)], Kōbō [which is the posthumous name of Kūkai 774-835 C.E. who was the founder of the Tantric School (Shingon-Shū)], Jikaku 794-866 C.E. [who was the third patriarch of Enryaku-ji temple of the Tendai School but adulterated the teaching of Tendai (T’ien T’ai) by claiming that various doctrines of the Tantric School were equal to the all-inclusive principle of the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō)] and Chishō 814-891 C.E. [who was the fifth patriarch of Euryaku-ji temple and who claimed that although the Dharma Flower Sutra (Hokke-kyō) expounded the truth, it was in fact parallel to the teachings of the Tantric School] along with other teachers of the same kind.

The term “Buddha” from the same quotation entails Nichiren and those that follow him. The single vehicle is Myōhō Renge Kyō which is the time and place (Kyō) of the interdependence of cause, concomitancy and effect (Renge) that involves the whole of existence (Myōhō).

Since the above personages cannot have faith in or assimilate this concept, they are bound to fall into the more unfortunate paths of rebirth (such as the various hells, the realms of hungry ghosts, or in the dimensions of animality).

Then there will be people
with scruples and pangs of conscience
who in all simplicity and innocence (shōjō)
will exert themselves
to seek the path of enlightenment.
Indeed, it is for such people
that I praise this single vehicle
broadly and widely.
Sharihotsu, you should surely know
that the Dharma of all the Buddhas
is just the same
and they expound it
through myriads of expedient means
so as to conform to the propensities
of those who are listening.
People who do not study
are incapable of understanding
what this Dharma involves.
Since you already know
that all the Buddhas
who are the teachers of all beings
use expedient means
to accommodate their capacities
so that they
are not led astray with doubts,
Sharihotsu, now
you must give rise to great joy
in your thoughts
knowing that you
will certainly become enlightened.

End of the first fascicle [scroll].