Shakyamuni Buddha of the provisional teachings and first half of the Lotus Sutra and Shakyamuni Buddha of the Juryo Chapter of the Lotus Sutra

"Moreover, when you must reply to the six difficult questions posed in Ryōkan’s appeal, bear in mind, as I have always said, that Nichiren’s disciples cannot accomplish anything if they are cowardly. As you debate the relative superiority and depth of the Lotus Sutra and other sutras, and whether or not they lead to enlightenment, remember that even the Shakyamuni Buddha described in the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings or in the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra is no one to be in awe of; even less so are bodhisattvas at the stage of near-perfect enlightenment. Followers of schools based on the provisional teachings are of still less account. As you debate, bear in mind that because we embrace the Lotus Sutra our position is like that of the great heavenly king Brahmā, and it is not at all wrong to regard those who hold to lesser teachings as our subjects or even as barbarians." - The teaching Practice and Proof

Answer: First, Japan and all the other countries throughout Jambudvīpa should all make the Shakyamuni Buddha of the essential teaching their object of devotion. In other words, the Shakyamuni and Many Treasures who appear in the treasure tower, all the other Buddhas, and the four bodhisattvas, including Superior Practices, will act as attendants to this Buddha. Second, there is the sanctuary of the essential teaching. Third, in Japan, China, India, and all the other countries of Jambudvīpa, every person, regardless of whether wise or ignorant, will set aside other practices and join in the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This teaching has never been taught before. Here in the entire land of Jambudvīpa, in all the 2,225 years since the passing of the Buddha, not a single person chanted it. Nichiren alone, without sparing his voice, now chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Namu-myoho-renge-kyo." - On Repaying Debts of Gratitude

"During the entire fifty years of Shakyamuni’s teaching, only in the last eight years did he preach the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra. Again, of all these chapters, only in the eight chapters did he reveal and transfer the object of devotion to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. During the two millennia of the Former and Middle Days of the Law, statues were made showing Mahākāshyapa and Ānanda flanking the Shakyamuni Buddha of Hinayana, and Manjushrī and Universal Worthy flanking the Shakyamuni Buddha of the provisional Mahayana, the Nirvana Sutra, and the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra.

Even though statues and paintings were made of these Shakyamuni Buddhas during the two millennia, no image or statue was made of the Buddha of the “Life Span” chapter. Only in the Latter Day of the Law will the representation of that Buddha appear.

Question: During the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law, the four ranks of bodhisattvas and the teachers constructed images of and built temples and pagodas for Buddhas of other worlds or for the Shakyamuni Buddha of Hinayana, of provisional Mahayana, of the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings, or of the theoretical teaching of the sutra. No one in India, China, or Japan, however, neither rulers nor subjects, revered the object of devotion of the “Life Span” chapter of the essential teaching and the four great bodhisattvas. Though I think I generally understand what you are saying, I have never heard such a thing before, and therefore it startles my ears and perplexes my mind. Will you explain it to me again in greater detail?

Answer: All the teachings that Shakyamuni Buddha expounded during his lifetime—all the eight volumes and twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra, the first four flavors of teachings that preceded the sutra, and the Nirvana Sutra that came after the Lotus—make an unbroken series of teachings like one perfect sutra. [These teachings can be divided into three parts—preparation, revelation, and transmission].64 Preparation indicates the part from the Flower Garland Sutra, his first preaching at the place of enlightenment, to the Wisdom sutras; revelation indicates the ten volumes of the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, and the Universal Worthy Sutra; and transmission indicates the Nirvana Sutra. The ten volumes of the revelation section likewise can be divided into these three parts. The Immeasurable Meanings Sutra and the “Introduction” chapter of the Lotus Sutra are preparation. The fifteen and a half chapters from the “Expedient Means” chapter to the nineteen-line verse of the “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter are revelation. The remaining eleven and a half chapters and one volume, from the section in the “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter clarifying the four stages of faith for people in the Buddha’s lifetime to the Universal Worthy Sutra, are transmission.

The ten volumes of the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, and the Universal Worthy Sutra can also be divided into two parts: theoretical and essential. Each part has the three divisions. In the theoretical teaching, preparation comprises the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra and the “Introduction” chapter of the Lotus Sutra, revelation comprises eight chapters, from the “Expedient Means” through the “Prophecies” chapters, and transmission comprises five chapters, from the “Teacher of the Law” to the “Peaceful Practices.” The Buddha of the theoretical teaching declared that he first attained Buddhahood in this life. He revealed the hundred worlds and thousand factors inherent in life, but he did not expound their eternal nature. Since the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra thus directly reveals a part of the Buddha’s own enlightenment, it excels all the other sutras that the Buddha had preached, now preached, or would preach, and is the correct teaching that is difficult to believe and difficult to understand.

The relationship between Shakyamuni Buddha and his disciples can be traced back to the time when, as the sixteenth son of the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence, he planted the seeds of Buddhahood in their lives. In Shakyamuni’s present lifetime a few of these disciples discovered the seeds when they heard the Flower Garland Sutra and the other teachings of the first four flavors. This was not, however, the Buddha’s true intention. Their discovery through these teachings was like poison having a positive effect. Ordinary people and the persons of the two vehicles came to the Lotus Sutra gradually through the first four flavors of teachings. They then revealed the seeds of Buddhahood from within themselves and were able to obtain the fruit of enlightenment.

Among the human and heavenly beings who listened to the eight chapters for the first time in Shakyamuni’s days, some took the seeds into their lives by hearing just a single phrase or verse. Some nurtured and harvested the seeds they had received. Others brought their seeds to fruition when they came to the Universal Worthy and Nirvana sutras. Still others appeared in the Former, Middle, or Latter Day of the Law and, through the Hinayana and provisional Mahayana teachings, obtained the fruit of enlightenment of the Lotus Sutra. These last are like the disciples in Shakyamuni’s lifetime who discovered their seeds of Buddhahood through the first four flavors of teachings.

Preparation, revelation, and transmission also exist in the fourteen chapters of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra. The first half of the “Emerging from the Earth” chapter is preparation. The latter half of this chapter, the “Life Span” chapter, and the first half of the following “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter—one chapter and two halves—are revelation. The remainder is transmission.

The Buddha of the essential teaching denies that he first attained Buddhahood in this life. The difference between the theoretical and the essential teachings is as great as that between heaven and earth. The latter reveals the eternity of the Ten Worlds and, further, the realm of the environment. The theoretical teaching, the first four flavors of teachings, the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra, and the Nirvana Sutra were all preached according to the capacities of the people. All these teachings that fall into the three categories of preaching are therefore easy to believe and easy to understand. In contrast, the essential teaching, which transcends the three categories, is difficult to believe and difficult to understand, for it directly reveals the Buddha’s own enlightenment. Nevertheless, even the difference between the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life of the theoretical teaching and that of the essential teaching pales into insignificance [before the ultimate teaching contained in the depths of the “Life Span” chapter].

The essential teaching [contained in the depths of the “Life Span” p.369chapter] also has its preparation, revelation, and transmission. Shakyamuni Buddha preached the Lotus Sutra in the past as the sixteenth son of the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence. When he appeared in his present life [in India], he also preached teachings for some fifty years, from the Flower Garland Sutra to the fourteen chapters of the theoretical teaching [of the Lotus Sutra] and the Nirvana Sutra. All these sutras as well as the countless sutras of the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three existences are preparation for revealing [the heart of] the “Life Span” chapter.

All the teachings other than the “one chapter and two halves” are Hinayana in nature and erroneous. Not only do they fail to lead to enlightenment, but also they lack the truth. Those who believe in them are meager in virtue, heavy with defilement, ignorant, poor, solitary, and like birds and beasts [that do not know their own parents].

The first half of the Lotus Sutra and the sutras preceding it contain the perfect teaching, but even this is not the cause for Buddhahood. Much less so are teachings of a Hinayana nature, such as the Mahāvairochana Sutra. It is out of the question to think that the scholars and teachers of the seven schools, including the Flower Garland and the True Word, preach the cause for attaining Buddhahood.

These inferior sutras seem to fall within the Tripitaka, connecting, and specific teachings, but actually they are no better than the lowest two. They may maintain that their doctrines are incomparably profound, but nowhere do they clarify when the Buddha planted the seeds of Buddhahood, or when he nurtured and reaped them. These doctrines are no different from Hinayana, which demands that one reduce one’s body to ashes and annihilate one’s consciousness, for they do not reveal when the Buddha started teaching and when he finished. If a consort of a king were to conceive by a beast, her baby would be inferior to a chandāla.

Setting aside these lesser teachings, the eight chapters of the revelation section [the second through the ninth chapters] of the theoretical teaching seem to have been expounded for the sake of the persons of the two vehicles rather than for the ordinary people and bodhisattvas in Shakyamuni’s lifetime. From a more profound viewpoint, they are intended for the ordinary people after the Buddha’s passing—in the Former, Middle, and Latter Days of the Law—and, in particular, for the ordinary people in the beginning of the Latter Day." - The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind Established in the Fifth Five-Hundred-Year Periodafter theThus Come One’sPassing