"Though all the grass and trees in the major world system should be used as fuel in an attempt to burn down Mount Sumeru, one could never burn it down. But when the time comes for the kalpa of decline, then a flame no bigger than a soybean will break out at the foot of Mount Sumeru and burn the entire mountain. And the same kind of thing, said the Buddha, applies to the Buddhist teachings.
They will not be destroyed by evil persons, non-Buddhist teachers, the heavenly devil Pāpīyas, or wielders of the five transcendental powers. Rather it will be those who appear to be Buddhas or who appear to be arhats who possess the six transcendental powers, monks who observe the precepts, wrapping their bodies in the three robes permitted by monastic discipline and holding a begging bowl reverently before their eyes, high-ranking monks whose renown is like a great wind sweeping over the grass and trees—these it will be who will destroy the correct teaching of the Buddha." - The Rulers of the Land of the Gods
"And elsewhere in the same sutra it says: “Because these persons have accumulated the causes that come from destroying the Law, they will fall into the great hell for a period of immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of years. These persons who destroy the Law will move from one great hell to another. And when the great fire comes that destroys the world at the end of the kalpa of decline, they will move to the great hell in some other world. Thus they will move here and there throughout the worlds of the ten directions. And during that time, though the fire will occur at the end of the kalpa of decline and they will die in one world, because they have not yet exhausted the evil karma acquired through the act of destroying the Law, they will return to the great hell in this world.
In the seventh volume of the Lotus Sutra it says: “Among the four kinds of believers there were those who gave way to anger, their minds lacking in purity, and they spoke ill of him and cursed him, saying, ‘This ignorant monk . . . !’ Some among the group would take sticks of wood or tiles and stones and beat and pelt him. . . . For a thousand kalpas they underwent great suffering in the Avīchi hell.”
This passage indicates that, if one curses the votary of the Lotus Sutra or beats him with sticks, though one may later repent of such actions, one cannot completely absolve oneself of the offense but will fall into the Avīchi hell for a period of a thousand kalpas. The sin of slandering the Law, even though one later repents of it, is a thousand times graver than the five cardinal sins. And how much worse is the fate of one who slanders the Law without ever repenting? Can such a person ever hope to be released from the Avīchi hell?
Therefore it is stated in the second volume of the Lotus Sutra: “If this person . . . on seeing those who read, recite, copy, and uphold this sutra, should despise, hate, envy, or bear grudges against them, . . . When his life comes to an end he will enter the Avīchi hell, be confined there for a whole kalpa, and when the kalpa ends, be born there again. He will keep repeating this cycle for a countless number of kalpas.” - What it Means to Slander the Law
"It is like the case of Mount Sumeru, the golden mountain. Though one might gather all the grass and wood in the major world system, pile them up until they completely filled the heaven of the four heavenly kings as well as the others of the six heavens of the world of desire, and burn them for one year, two years, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, or a million years, the mountain would not suffer the slightest p.578injury. But when the time comes for the great fire that ends the kalpa of decline, a tiny flame no bigger than a bean will break out at the base of the mountain, and not only will Mount Sumeru be consumed, but the entire major world system will likewise be destroyed." - The Selection of the Time
"But when the conflagration that marks the end of the kalpa of decline breaks out and fire appears from within the mountain itself, then in an instant the whole mountain will be consumed by the flames and not even ashes will remain.” - Ibid
“When huge fires consume the nation, and the people are all burned to death, or when there are outbreaks of demon fire, dragon fire, heavenly fire, mountain god fire, human fire, tree fire, or bandit fire—when these prodigies appear, this is the third disaster." - Establishing the Correct Law for the Peace of the Law
Yet, the Lotus Sutra teaches in Chapter 16, The Lifespan of the Tathagata reads:
"The masses of beings see the kalpas exhausted, WHEN they are burned by the great (nuclear) fires; This land of mine is peaceful and secure, gods and humans ever fill it
This land of mine is peaceful and secure." - Lotus Sutra Chapter 16, the Lifespan of the Tathagata
What is the significance of this seeming dichotomy?
The various stages of Lotus practice as explicated by Nichiren explains this dichotomy:
Six stages of practice according to the Lotus school | ||||
the stage of being a Buddha in theory | ||||
the stage of hearing the name and words of the truth | ||||
impure land | One hears the name of the three truths. | |||
the stage of perception and action | ||||
One carries out the five stages of practice. | ||||
the stage of resemblance to enlightenment | ||||
One cuts off the eighty-eight illusions of thought. | ||||
One cuts off the eighty-one illusions of desire. | ||||
One cuts off the nine types of illusions innumerable as particles of dust and sand. | ||||
the stage of progressive awakening | ||||
reward land1 | One cuts off the forty-one levels of ignorance. | |||
the stage of ultimate enlightenment | ||||
One cuts off the one last level of ignorance. | ||||
The previous is from dialogue on the Lotus and Pure Land Teachings
Nichiren also explains in the Opening of the Eyes. "To have a profound knowledge of this world is itself Buddhism." - this explains the teachings from the perspective of the common mortal, a Buddha in theory and the stage of first hearing the name and the words of truth (Namu Myoho renge kyo).
A Nichiren Shoshu priest explains:
Six stages of practice (roku-soku)
"These are, according to Tiantai Buddhism, the six stages of practice for bodhisattvas practicing the Lotus Sutra:
- Stage of not yet hearing the Law (ri-soku) – in theory having the potential for Buddhahood but not being aware of it)
- Stage of first hearing the name of the Law (myoji-soku)– having heard the name of the truth and understanding that one has the potential for Buddhahood
- Stage of observation and practice (kangyo-soku) – perceiving the truth within and having no contradiction between perception and action
- Stage of having purified the six sense organs (soji-soku) – outwardly resembling a Buddha)
- Stage of eradicating fundamental darkness (funjin-soku) – partial awakening to the truth
- Stage of perfect enlightenment (kukyo-soku, or the ultimate level).
In his original identity... Nichiren Daishonin became enlightened to the mystic Law (Myōhō) in gohyaku jintengo (remotest past) as a common mortal at the stage of first hearing the name of the Law (myoji-soku) (the level where one first hears the true Law and understands that all phenomena are the Law of Buddhism)."
We, on the other hand, have heard the Law for the first time more recently, unlike the Buddha and Nichiren who heard and practiced the Law since the remotest past. To expect us to have the same viewpoint as they, "this land of mine is peaceful and secure". are kidding themselves and filled with arrogance.
They who don't believe that this world is close to the end of the Kalpa of Decline, have little knowledge of this world. When they claim to see the world as the Buddha sees the world, "this land of mine is peaceful and secure", they are not only arrogant but stupid. Katie Higgins and Jerry Marcheso come to mind.
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