Pure Land, a repost of an essay by Graham Lamont (Part 1)
I. The "Last Five Hundred Years" and the Latter Dharma (Mappo) An old claim of the Pure Land believers against the Hokekyo or Lotus Sutra is that this Sutra, as opposed to their Three Pure Land Sutras (Jodo Sambukyo ), is inappropriate to our time, the age of the Latter Dharma (Mappo). A variant of this contention has now been advanced by the claim that the Hokekyo is limited only to the fifth five hundred years since the Buddha and is irrelevant to the present age, since by the usual reckoning (from 949 B.C.E.) this period of the fifth five hundred years has passed. Thus once again they try to make the Supreme Sutra as an irrelevant teaching when in reality it is the teaching for the salvation of the beings of our age and is especially left for them. Let us argue following the Sutra-based teachings of Nichiren Shonin the Great Bodhisattva who was sent by the Eternal Lord Shakya as His Messenger to the people of the Latter Dharma to begin the spread of the Truth.
First we shall consider the misinterpretation of the term "last five hundred years" by the partisans of the Pure Land teaching (which is centered on the Buddha Amida in the Pure Land of Gokuraku in the Western Quarter): they assume that this expression "last five hundred years" in the twenty third chapter of the Hokekyo refers to that period alone, but it is clear from other passages in the Sutra that the Buddha meant this Hokekyo for the whole of the ten thousand years of the Latter Dharma: Directly following upon the revelation of the Eternal Shakyamuni in the sixteenth chapter, the next chapter says:
"In the evil era, the time of the Latter Dharma Those who can keep this Sutra" It imposes no limitation relating to the "last five hundred years" of the five five-hundred-year periods as described in the Daijikkyo. Clearly the teaching was to begin to spread throughout the world when the other teachings were being destroyed. Thus the Tendai masters rightly said that the literal interpretation of "the last five hundred years" was a teaching at first sight, a surface interpretation (ichio) and that, in accordance with the Sutra, at second sight (saio) it is the whole ten thousand years of the Latter Dharma. Again Nichiren Shonin in his "Go gohyaku sai gomon" (STN, v. 3, 2293) notes that the verses of the "Chapter of Practices of Peaceful Joy" 13:
In the Last Era
The Ones who keep this Sutra
With regard to the householders and religious
As well as those who are not Bodhisattvas
Ought to produce compassion (T.9.39a)
The term "Last Era" (in the Japanese reading "nochi no sue no yo" or "nochi no masse" or "later end/final era") seems to emphasize its being the whole or even the later part of age of the Latter Dharma. In any case one cannot say that this refers to the literal "last five hundred years" alone. Further, Nichiren Shonin cites the phrase "within (or in the midst of) of the Latter Dharma" (T.9.37c-38a, cited in the Kaimoku sho (STN, v.1, 592) and also in the Kyo gyo sho gosho (STN, v. 2, 1481) where it is rightly glossed as meaning the ten thousand years of the Latter Dharma. If the Pure Land partisans wish to limit the spread of the Hokekyo to "within" the last five hundred years, meaning the beginning of the Latter Dharma, they must accept the spread "within" the Latter Dharma since the same "within" or "in the midst of" (chu) is used for both expressions. The Tendai masters such as Chan-jan (Myoraku Daishi) are thus correct in saying the "five hundred" years are "temporarily according to the time when the Great Teaching is to spread" (Hokke mongu ki 1B (T. 34. 157b))
The Daijikkyo clearly emphasizes the destruction of "Pure Dharma" meaning the Lesser Vehicle and Provisional Great Vehicle Sutras; by contrast, the Lotus Sutra emphasizes the "wide proclamation and spreading" (kosen rufu) at the same time, the "last five hundred years", which means the beginning of the time when this teaching of the Hokekyo would spread through the world.
The Daijikkyo says that the Pure Dharma will sink and be hidden and, although it is a sutra previous to the Lotus Sutra and, therefore, an expedient, its prophecy is confirmed in the Lotus Sutra in the "Chapter of the Practices of Peaceful Joy" 14 when it says, "The Bodhisattva Mahasattvas who in the Last Era, when the Dharma is about to be extinguished, receive and keep, read and recite this Sutra Canon are not to harbor a mind of jealousy and envy or sycophancy and deception." (T.9.38b) Clearly this "extinction" of the Dharma refers to the other teachings, for this Sutra is to be spread when the other teachings are destroyed at the beginning of the Latter Dharma.
Now must turn to the relative value of the statements made by the Hokekyo and the Pure Land Sutras. In the Sutra of Immeasurable Meanings (Muryogikyo), immediately before preaching the Hokekyo, the Buddha states: "For more than forty years I have never yet revealed the Truth." (T.9.386b) And with the Previous Teachings, expedient teachings. "Passing through immeasurable, boundless, inconceivable asamkheya kalpas, they in the end were not able to achieve Supreme Bodhi." (T.9.387a) In other words, those seeking enlightenment were not able to attain the Supreme Bodhi or Enlightenment of the Buddha up to this point, following the teachings of the Buddha. This is because up to that time He had not revealed the Real Teaching but had put forth only Provisional or Expedient Teachings, which conformed to the capacities (ki) of a particular audience or group of beings. Immediately after the Sutra of Immeasurable Meanings the Buddha preaches the Lotus Sutra or Hokekyo, in which it proclaims: "As to the World-honored One's Dharma, after a long time, He is certainly going to preach the Truth." ("Chapter of Expedience" 2 (T.9.6a))
Hence we should know that the Truth, formerly withheld inthe Buddha's temporal career, is only now and of necessity going to be revealed in this Sutra. The teachings of the other Sutras, before this time, are now abolished as mere expedients, temporary, provisional measures to lead people onward to the Truth of the One Buddha Vehicle. "I forthrightly abandon expedience and only preach the Supreme Way." ("Chapter of Expedience" 2 (T.9.10a))
Note that Chan-jan (Myoraku Daishi) translates "abandon" (she/sha) as "abolish" (fei/hai) (Hokke gengi shakushin 1A (T.33.S16c)) Thus we should know that the Buddha is now preaching only the absolute truth, the One Vehicle leading directly to Buddhahood. Now the Pure Land Sutras are from the third period of the Buddha's lifetime, the Hodo (Vaipulya) period (roughly thirty years), previous to the Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) Sutras.
And as we might expect in the case of all Sutras that are provisional, mere expedients for a particular audience, the Sutras before the Hokekyo, contradict themselves. The Pure Land partisans claim that the Muryojukyo will outlast all other Sutras by one hundred years. (T.12.279a11-12) But note that another version of this sutra, the Bussetsu Muryo shojo byodo kyo states, "After by Parinirvana the Way of the Sutras will remain for one thousand years; after a thousand years the Way of the Sutras will be cut off; I am compassionate to all, and especially retain this Sutra Dharma to stay and abide a hundred years; in the midst of the hundred years finally then it will cease, stop, and be cut off." (T.1Z.299c11-13 and n. 12 from the Ming and Yuan editions) (According to some commentators (T.12.279a, n. 3) there is also to be another thousand years before that last hundred years; this is very interesting because, according to the standard reckoning of the time of the Buddha's Parinirvana (949 B.C.E.), the two thousand year period plus the one hundred years would be in the first part of Honen's lifetime (1133-1212), or about 1151 C.E. In other words, according to this version the teaching of this Sutra is supposed to cease about the time Honen, the great exponent of Pure Land (exclusive Nembutsu) is starting on his career!
We may also note that this alternate translation with the actual years is an older translation (supposedly by Chih-ch'ien from the Later Han) than the more standard version of the Muryojukyo in use by Pure Land partisans now; although the thousand year passage occurs only in the Yuan and Ming versions, if this is, indeed, a slightly older version then the actual calculation of the years were deleted for some reason from the standard version translated by K'ang Seng-k'ai in the Ts'ao Wei period (220-280).
But even leaving this aside, Nichiren Shonin points out (Shugo kokka ron, STN, v. 1, '00-102) that the pronouncements of the sutras previous to the Lotus Sutra are not determinate, because, for example the Ninnokyo or Sutra of the Benevolent Kings predicts it will last eight thousand years past the age of the Latter Dharma.
By contrast, the words of the Hokekyo are final and we have shown its destiny is to be propagated throughout the age of the Latter Dharma beginning with the fifth five hundred years. Nichiren Shonin explains the text "After My Extinction within the five hundred years after (or the last five hundred years) they shall widely proclaim and spread it and not allow it to be cut off." "The character 'after' [last] following on 'After My Extinction' is the character 'after' (go) in 'after the various sutras of the more than forty years are completely extinguished.'" (Shugo kokka ron, STN, v. 1, 102 l. 14) In other words, Nichiren Shonin interprets the last five hundred years as "after" the other (merely provisional) Sutras have run their course and disappear or virtually disappear because they are no longer of any effect. (N.B. The rendering of the kambun text with the word "after" instead of "last ' fits Nichiren Shonin's reading in this instance; both renderings are perfectly legitimate; the problem is more with the word order and vocabulary of English than with the original Chinese. This particular rendering is also in the future tense as a prophecy but it can also be read as,an imperative, which really does not affect the sense here.)
By contrast, the words of the Hokekyo are final and we have shown its destiny is to be propagated throughout the age of the Latter Dharma beginning with the fifth five hundred years. Nichiren Shonin explains the text "After My Extinction within the five hundred years after (or the last five hundred years) they shall widely proclaim and spread it and not allow it to be cut off." "The character 'after' [last] following on 'After My Extinction' is the character 'after' (go) in 'after the various sutras of the more than forty years are completely extinguished.'" (Shugo kokka ron, STN, v. 1, 102 l. 14) In other words, Nichiren Shonin interprets the last five hundred years as "after" the other (merely provisional) Sutras have run their course and disappear or virtually disappear because they are no longer of any effect. (N.B. The rendering of the kambun text with the word "after" instead of "last ' fits Nichiren Shonin's reading in this instance; both renderings are perfectly legitimate; the problem is more with the word order and vocabulary of English than with the original Chinese. This particular rendering is also in the future tense as a prophecy but it can also be read as,an imperative, which really does not affect the sense here.) II. The Pure Land (Nembutsu) Followers claim that Amida is Our Savior The Pure Land believers advance the claim that the Buddha Amida is the special savior of the people of this Saha World in the age of the Latter Dharma. But let us note the Eighteenth Vow of Amida in the (Muryojukyo),which is central to Rebirth (ojo) in the Pure Land faith, "Even though I should obtain Buddhahood, when the beings of the Ten Directions believe and rejoice with all their heart, desiring to be born in my country, if they are not born [there], I shall not accept True Enlightenment; only excepting the Five Rebellious Sins and Blasphemy against the True Dharma." (T.12.268a26-28)
The Pure Land patriarchs have developed various clever arguments to undo the obvious meaning of this sutra text: that Amida in His central vow excludes from His Pure Land all those who commit the Five Rebellious Sins and those who commit blasphemy against the Dharma. Now Pure Land commentators tried to use texts of the Great Parinirvana Sutra (Daihatsunehangyo) (T.12.554a-b, 574c) to show that the people of our age, the "Ever sinking" and those "Who emerged from the sea but then sank back again", were saved by the Buddha Amida and those above this level were saved by the Buddha Shakya. This idea appears to have come from Shan-tao's interpretation but following an interpretation by Genshin (942-1017), one of the greatest exponents of Pure Land doctrine in the Tendai Sect, Nichiren Shonin demonstrates that these two Watanabe Hoyo, "Nichiren Shonin no shukyo ni okeru 'hobo' no igi" ("The Significance of 'Blasphemy against the Dharma' in Nichiren Shonin's Religion" in Miyazaki Eishu and Motai Kyoko, eds. Nichiren Shonin kenkyu, 96 classes of those "ever sinking" and "emerging, then sinking back" are, in fact, those who blaspheme against the Dharma and those guilty Of the Five Rebellious Sins, but as we have just seen, the Buddha Amida excludes these very people. (Note also the phrase in the "Chapter of Expedience" 2 (T.9.9c), "...the multitudes of beings, sinking in suffering, unable to believe this Dharma, because they destroy the Dharma, not believing, will fall to the Three Evil Ways [of Rebirth]." This shows that the beings sinking in the sea of suffering here do so because of unbelief in the Truth and efficacy of this Sutra.) By contrast, the Concluding Sutra of the Hokekyo, the Fugengyo, actually proclaims that these excluded sinners, those who commit the Five Rebellious Sins and Blasphemy against the Dharma, to be the very capacities for the Hokekyo :
"If kings, great ministers, brahmins, householders, wealthy householders, officials, these people and so on, greedily seeking with no revulsion, commit the Five Rebellious Sins, blaspheme the Hodo Sutra and are possessed of the Ten Evils, the retribution for these Great Evils is to fall to the Evil Ways of Rebirth surpassing a torrential rain: they must certainly be going to fall to the Avici Hell. If they desire to extinguish and be rid of these karmic hindrances, they ought to give rise to repentance and change and do penance for their sins." (T.9.394a) (N.B.: the terms Hodo Sutra applies to!his Hokekyo in this instance, as is generally acknowledged.)
Among the tive types of repentance which are mentioned there is this: "they should only profoundly believe in the Cause and Effect, the Way of the One Reality, and know that the Buddha is not Extinguished." (T.9.394b)
There can be no doubt that this particular form of repentance is centered on the principal teaching of the Hokekyo: the One Reality revealed in the "Chapter of Expedience" 2 and the Eternal Buddha revealed in the"Chapter of the Measure of Life of the Tathagata" 16. In other words, among the various types of repentance recommended by the Concluding Sutra of the Hokekyo is the very faith preached by Nichiren Shonin. The response to Blasphemy against the Dharma and all other types of sins is, indeed, the repentance by believing in the true Hokke faith!
Moreover, Blasphemy against the Dharma is the very worst of diseases, incurable save by "the One Buddha Lord Shakya's Excellent Medicine of the Sublime Sutra" (Ota nyuo dono gohenji or "Reply to the Tonsured Layman Ota", STN, v, 2, 1116 l. 8), for it is written in the "Chapter of the Original Matter of the Bodhisattva Yakuo" 23, "This Sutra is the Excellent Medicine for the Diseases of the people of Jambudvipa: if persons have a disease and get to hear this Sutra, the disease at once shall be extinguished. " (T.9.54c25-26) It is this Sutra alone which can cure the sin of Blasphemy against the Dharma, which is unbelief or wrong belief.
The Great Parinirvana Sutra (Daihatsunehangyo) says, "If there are those who have disparaged and blasphemed this True Dharma, they can themselves change and do penance, returning to the Dharma ... except for this True Dharma there is no further salvation and protection; for this reason they ought to return to the True Dharma." (T,12.425b, cited by Nichiren Shonin in the "Reply to the Tonsured Layman Ota", STN, v. Z, 1116) It is clear. as both the Tendai Masters and Nichiren Shonin have shown from the Sutra texts, that this Great Parinirvana Sutra is, in fact, the Diffusion Section to Lotus Sutra . (E.g., the Shugo kokka ron, STN, v. 1, 130-132, noting especially the passage where the Great Parinirvana Sutra (T.12.420a) points back to the salvation of the unsavable Shravakas in the Lotus Sutra; so the Great Parinirvana Sutra is the "gleaning" to the "great harvest" of the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra alone has saved the Shravakas, thus fulfilling the vows of all Bodhisattvas to save all beings and alone has revealed the True Attainment of Buddhahood in the Most Distant Past, that is to say, the Eternal Life of the Buddha Shakyamuni.) When it refers to this True Dharma, it is referring back to the Supreme Lotus Sutra.
Now what is Blasphemy? The Pure Land (Nembutsu) people and others will argue that they do not "disparage and blaspheme" the Dharma of the Lotus Sutra.
Let us answer from the Sutra text in the "Chapter of the Parable" 3: first, the Buddha Shakyamuni proclaims, "Now these three worlds are all my own; the beings therein are all my children. But now this place has many calamities and hardships; I alone can guard and save them." (T.9.14c26- 28) (Note that this applies not only to the Buddha Shakyamuni's Historical Manifestation in the first half of the Lotus Sutra (the Shakumon) but also in the second half (the Hommon) where the Buddha proclaims, "I likewise am the Father of the World, The One who saves from the various sufferings and travails." ("Chapter of the Measure of Life of the Tathagata" 16) Thus it is the Buddha Shakyamuni, revealed as the Eternal Buddha, who is our true savior, the rescuer of the unsavable!
Thus far from being alien to all beings (as well as the non-sentient support retribution) of this Saha World, as some Pure Land teachers and others claim, the Buddha Shakya is the Lord, Teacher, and Parent of this World from the Most Distant Past. So He has revealed Himself as uniquely the Parent and Savior of us beings. Note that even in the intermediate period after His True Enlightenment in the inconceivable past it is the Buddha Shakyamuni who, manifested as the Brahmacarin Hokai (Hokai bonji) performing the Bodhisattva practice made a vow that "gathering the multitudes of beings driven forth from the Pure Lands of the Ten Directions, I shall save them." (From fasc. 6 the Hikekyo or Sutra of the Flower of Compassion) cited in the "Letter to Jorembo" or Jorembo gosho) (STN, v. 2, 1076; also "Epistle to Lord Matsuno" (Matsuno dona goshosoku), STN. v, 2, 1277 and cf. Nichiren Shonin ibun jiten, 1004a) Contrast the vows of the Bodhisattva Hozo who as the Buddha Amida abandons this Saha World and also its people, excluding those who commit Blasphemy and the Five Rebellious Sins.
The Buddha Shakya has said, as we noted above, that it is this Sutra, the Hokekyo, that is His revelation of the Truth, and yet, He continues immediately afterwards in the same "Chapter of the Parable" 3, "Though I again teach and (decree, yet they do not do not believe and receive." (T.9.14c28-29) Likewise He urges: "I for the sake of beings by means of this parable preach the One Buddha Vehicle; if you [plural] can believe and accept these words, all in every case are going to become able to obtain the Buddha Way. This Vehicle is subtle and sublime, pure and foremost, in the various worlds there is none superior." (T.9.15a5-8)
He then warns against disbelief: "If persons do not believe and disparage and blaspheme this Sutra, then they cut off all the worlds' Buddha seeds. (Or again if they frown and harbor doubts and confusions, you should hear preached the retribution of this person's sin . "These persons at life's end will enter Avici Hell for fully one kalpa and, when the kalpa is exhausted, will again be born like this turning on to numberless kalpas and emerging from hell will fall to the beasts...." (T.9.15b2Z-c2) clearly disbelief is the source of all this; as faith is the source of salvation, so lack of faith and doubt are the source of evil retribution. (We must note despite the length of this terrible punishment in Avici and other evil places of rebirth, this is not eternal damnation.)
According to the buddha in His Real (non-expedient) Teaching, unbelief, harboring doubts, in regard to this Sutra will lead to retribution in the Avici (Unremitting) Hell and other evil states of rebirth through countless aeons.
Now the Pure Land followers still say they have not "blasphemed and disparaged" yet it is clear that they do not believe in the efficacy of this Sutra for people of this Latter Age; rather they harbor doubts about it and teach at variance to what the Buddha has said in a final and authoritative way in this very Lotus Sutra; for do they not follow Shan-tao in saying "not one in a thousand" attain by the Hokekyo and other sutras when this Sutra proclaims all shall attain by this One Vehicle? Do they not follow Honen's famous prescription in the Senchahu shu to "abandon, close, put aside, cast away' (sha hei kaku ho) the Lotus Sutra among the other sutras'? Is this what the Lotus Sutra teaches: that we should abandon it now in this age, far from the time of the historical Buddha? Now the Pure Land partisans will most probably argue in one or the other of two ways
1) They claim that, in following Honen, they never intended to criticize the Hokekyo but merely meant that "the truth of the Lotus Sutra] is profound and the understanding [of the people of our age of the Latter Dharma] is slight" (ri jin ge mi); the Lotus Sutra, they claim, is only for great sages and not for ordinary unenlightened worldlings: its practices are too difficult.
Let us see what the Diffusion Section (ruzubun) within the Sutra (as opposed to the separate Diffusion Section Sutras, the Fugengy6 and the Daihatsunehangyo) has to say: "Still further, after the Extinction of the Tathagata, if they hear this Sutra and do not disparage it but give rise to the mind of following joy, you should know it is already the aspect of profound faith and understanding." (The "Chapter of theDistribution of Merits" 17 (T.9.45b22- 24))
Now this passage describes the Five Ranks (gohon) after the Extinction of (the historical manifestation of) the Buddha. The person who hears and does not blaspheme against this Supreme Dharma but has the joy of following in faith already has the aspect of profound faith and understanding. Note that understanding is not a prerequisite for this but only "following joy", the very first stage of the spiritual journey. Clearly the Buddha intends this Sutra for beings such as ourselves. (Note that in this same chapter this is in the period of the Latter Dharma for in the next stage of faith, "keeping" this Sutra, it is specifically said to be "in the evil era at the time of the Latter Dharma" (T.9.46a13).)
Moreover, in the "Chapter of Following Joy" the vast merit of one who has heard this Sutra even at fiftieth hand is proclaimed by the Buddha yet this person is clearly even less spiritually advanced than the person who first heard it in the Buddha's congregation and has not yet even entered the level of the Identity of Contemplation and Practice (kangyo soku) but is at the level of the Identity of Name (myoji soku) where real understanding or practice have not yet really begun. (Note that, unlike the first forty-nine, this fiftieth person has not even preached the Dharma to someone else and so is at the most elementary level.) Yet such "shallow" merit is actually vastly superior to that of the great sages of the teachings of the Previous Sutras. (Tayu sakan dono gohenji, STN, v. 2, 1852) That this should be so is explained by the well-known principle, "Because the more the teaching is Real, the more the [spiritual] level is lowered.") The Sutra itself says: "When there are beings who, hearing that the Buddha's Lifespan is of such great length, can produce so much as one thought of faith and understanding, the merit which they obtain shall have no limit or measure. If there are good sons or good daughters who for the sake of Anuttara- samyak-sambodhi practice the Five Paramitas, the Dana Paramita, the Sila Paramita, the Kshanti Paramita, the Virya Paramita, and the Dhyana Paramita, excluding the Prajna Paramita, when one compares this merit to the former merit, it does not reach one part of a hundred parts, a thousand parts, or one hundred trillion parts and it is something even calculations and similes cannot know. If there are good sons or good daughters who have merit such as this, there would be no instance of backsliding in Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi." (T.9.44cl 8-29)
Although this passage is technically within the Four Faiths (Four Levels of Belief with increasing levels of understanding and practice), which are practiced in the Buddha's Lifetime, Chan-jan (Janran, Myoraku, the sixth Chinese Patriarch of the Tendai (T'ien-t'ai) Sect) in the Hokke mongu ki points out that the Four Faiths and Five Ranks are practically the same, so that "one thought of faith and understanding" is applicable to the time after the historical Buddha; thus a single thought of faith in this Sutra and specifically in the Buddha's Immeasurable Lifespan, as preached in the Sixteenth Chapter, is superior to all Five Paramitas or Perfections except the Prajna Paramita or Perfection of Wisdom since that is identical to this Sutra itself. Such faith is at least as "easy" as the Nembutsu but is surely superior in merit. (Incidentally the verse paraphrase of the above passage affirms that it is "one thought of faith" without any mention of understanding as a prerequisite (T.9.45a26). And Chan-jan also affirms in the Hoke mongu ki 9B (T.34.342b) that the first faith has no understanding.
Clearly this Lotus Sutra is not something meant for great sages alone; it has nothing to do with entering into a trance (samadhi) and so on. Thus the Fugenqyo says one who practices "though not entering samadhi, only recites and keeps" (T.9.389c) and the sixth patriarch of the Tendai Sect, Myoraku Daishi (Chan-jan) glosses, "With unconcentrated (lit., "scattered") minds reciting the Dharma Flower (Hokke) without entering trance and samadhi, sitting, standing, or walking single-mindedly think on the characters of the Dharma Flower. " (Maka shikan bugyo den guketsu 2- 2.18v (T.46.192c). Nichiren Shonin that this is surely the easy practice for the unenlightened worldlings of the Latter Dharma, for it makes no distinction as to our behavior and has nothing to do with trance but demands single-minded devotion and he says, "'Think on the characters of the Dharma Flower' means that this Sutra does not resemble the characters of the various sutras; though one recites one character, it encompasses the characters of the Eighty thousand Jewelled Stores [of the Buddha Dharma] and gathers in the merit of all the Buddhas." (Shugo kokka ron, STN, v. 1, 110)
For those who wish to be reborn in a Pure Land, in the "Chapter of Devadatta" 12 it says, "The Buddha addressed the bhikshus, 'In a future era It there are good sons or good daughters who hear the "Chapter of Devadatta" of the Sublime Dharma Flower Sutra (Myohokekyo ) and with a pure mind believe and reverence, not producing doubts and confusion, they shall not fall to the hells, hungry ghosts, or beasts but be born before the Buddhas of the Ten Directions and in the place where they are born they shall constantly hear this Sutra; if they are born among humans or gods they shall receive superior and sublime joy. If before a Buddha, they shall be born by transformation in a lotus flower.'"(T.9.35a14- 18)
Note that there is no exclusion of Blasphemers against the Dharma, because this Sutra is the very Teaching that rescues such evil people. Thus this clear promise of the Buddha is specifically focused on the chapter where the most evil person in Buddhist tradition is shown to attain Buddhahood. Moreover, even in excellent heavenly and human rebirths, they shall be able to hear this Supreme Lotus Sutra, a fact which is most important for in such a rebirth they shall always have access to Buddhahood.
2) They assert that they only meant to combine their Nembutsu (believing in and chanting the Name of Amida (shomyo)) with the Lotus Sutra and dedicating the merits to Rebirth in the Pure Land of Gokuraku presided over by the Buddha Amida in the Western Direction. The Lotus Sutra says in the "Chapter of the Parable" (T.9.16a), "Only rejoicing to receive and keep the Great Vehicle Sutra Canon, not even receiving one verse of other Sutras"; since the "Chapter of Expedience" 2 (T.9.8a) declares:
"Now is properly the time;
I shall determinately preach the Great Vehicle;
The Nine Sections of the Dharma I
Preach following and according with the masses of beings:
Having them enter the great Vehicle is the fundamental And
for that reason I preach this Sutra,"
Then, in effect, this Sutra is the True or Real Great Vehicle (Mahayana) and none of the other sutras are really so; in that sense they are the Lesser Vehicle; we are not even to receive (i.e., accept out of faith) a single verse of these other sutras, including the "Mahayana" sutras which are not truly the Great Vehicle.
Likewise in the "Chapter of the Divine Powers of the Tathagata" 21 states: "For that reason you, after the Tathagata's Extinction, should single-mindedly receive and keep, read and recite, explain and preach, copy and write, and practice in accordance with the preaching." (T.9.52a20- 21)
The Sutra says one is to practice it single-mindedly, i.e., to the exclusion of other sutras and teachings.
Therefore, in the age of the Latter Dharma, the time for this Sutra, no other practice or teaching should be employed and that restriction applies to the Nembutsu.
end of part one......
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