"In the Kanjin Honzon Sho, Nichiren explains the Object of Worship (honzon) itself:
The form of that Object of Worship: above the Saha of the Original Teacher the Jewelled Stupa is in the void; to the left and right of Myoho renge kyo within the the stupa are the Buddha Shakyamuni and the Buddha Taho and the Attendants of Lord Shakya, the Four Bodhisattvas Jogyo and the others and the Four Bodhisattvas Maiijushri, Maitreya and the the others are in the end seats as the Entourage and the greater and lesser Bodhisattvas Converted by the Manifestation and from other quarters are the myriad common people on the great earth as if looking at the Cloud Pavillions and Moon Ministers. The Buddhas of the Ten Directions are located on upon the great earth. It is because they represent the Manifestation Buddhas and the Manifestation Lands. An Object of Worship such as this did not exist in the more than fifty years in the Buddha's time in the world. And during the eight years it is limited to the Eight Chapters. (Showa teihon,712)
Because of the words "it is limited to the Eight Chapters" in the above text, the followers of Nichiryu (1385-1464 C.E., from the Hommon Hokke Sect derives) and Nissen (Nagamatsu Seifu,1817-1890 C.E., founder of Hommon Butsuryu Sect) emphasize the Eight Chapters.
The "Eight Chapters" means the "Chapter of Springing Forth" 15 to the "Chapter of Entrustment" 22. The above text means: "This type of Object of Worship did not exist during the more than fifty years in the Buddha's time in the world. Even during the eight years when the Buddha preached the Hokekyo, it was only in the Eight Chapters.
Then when we ask what is central and important within the Eight Chapters, it is the "Chapter of the Measure of Life" 16 as Nichiren Shonin says "the Buddha of 'Measure of Life"' and "the Object of Worship of the 'Chapter of the Measure of Life' of the Original Doctrine". Or to put it in opposite terms, he never said such things as "the Buddha of the Eight Chapters" or "the Object of Worship of the Eight Chapters".
It is only because in the "Chapter of the Divine Powers" 21 there is the Separate Entrustment for Propagation in the Age of the Latter Dharma from the Original Buddha to the Bodhisattva Jogyo that he says "Eight Chapters". The Three Divisions of the Original or Fundamental Dharma (hompo sandan) also has the "Chapter of the Measure of Life" as its center. Further, in the Honzon Sho it has:
"Now the Saha World of the Original Time is the eternally-abiding Pure Land apart from the three disasters and the four kalpas (eons). The Buddha has not been extinguished in the past and will not be born in the future. And those converted by Him are of the same essence. This is identical to the very mind's three thousand [realms] fully possessed and the three types of worlds". (Showa teihon, 712)
When it says, "The Buddha has not been extinguished in the past and will not be born in the future, it refers to that fact that the Buddha, that is, the Great Benevolent Master of Teachings Lord Shakya from the beginningless most distant past long ago until the eternal eons of the future is ever abiding in the Saha World saving beings. The founder of the Hommon Butsuryu Sect and Seifu Church, Seifu Nissen, cried out in a joyful passage:
"Ah, how blessed to have obtained a human birth, rarely to be had and to have encountered the Buddha Dharma......... Though I have appeared in a Buddha-less world, in the interim between the former Buddha and the next Buddha, it is the time when the Sublime Dharma which Jogyo transmitted is spreading."
When he says, "a Buddha-less world, in the interim between the former Buddha and the next Buddha", he does not even understand the above text of the Honzon sho. While he reads the text of the Honzon sho, he kills the very heart of the Honzon sho.
"In front of the person who does not believe in the Hokekyo, the Buddha Shakyamuni has taken His Entrance into Extinction but before the one who believes in this Sutra, though it is after His Extinction, it is the time when the Buddha is in the world." (On Guarding the State, Showa Teihon, 123)
We can say that those who say things such as "a Buddha-less world, in the interim between the former Buddha and the next Buddha", no matter how many Daimoku they chant, they are those who do not believe in the Lotus Sutra." -- Rev. Kubota
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