Mr. Altig’s Overview of the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sutra

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This briefing document reviews the core tenets and essential practices of Nichiren Buddhism as outlined in the provided sources, focusing on Nichiren’s specific directions for practitioners in the Latter Day of the Law.

I. Main Themes and Most Important Ideas

The central theme running through Nichiren’s instructions is the primacy of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the sole and most effective path to enlightenment in the current age, emphasizing unwavering faith and the discarding of all other teachings. A unique aspect is the embracing of difficulties as validation and purification. While seemingly less prominent, the study of the Lotus Sutra is an integral, though distinct, component that supports and deepens the core practice.

A. Core Practices and Principles: The Path to Enlightenment

Nichiren’s directions are clear and provide a prescriptive path for his followers:

1. Exclusively Chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo (Daimoku):

• This is presented as the “fundamental and most important practice” and the “sole path to enlightenment in the Latter Day.”
• Holistic Practice: Chanting the daimoku is said to “encompasses all practices,” including embracing, reading, reciting, expounding, and copying the Lotus Sutra. “If you chant the daimoku, ‘you are correctly reading the entire Lotus Sutra’.”
• Boundless Blessings and Eradication of Offenses: It is the “great medicine” that “changes poison into medicine” and allows one to attain Buddhahood even without eradicating earthly desires. The sources ask, “what offense could fail to be eradicated? What blessing could fail to come?”
• Buddha’s True Intention: This practice aligns with the capacity of people in the Latter Day, enabling them to experience “the boundless joy of the Law” by “rejoicing on hearing the Lotus Sutra.”
• Effectiveness Beyond Comprehension: The power of the chant is inherent, described as effective “even without understanding its meaning,” similar to “parrots being reborn in heaven by simply twittering the four noble truths.”

1. Maintain Strong Faith:

• Fundamental Cause: Faith is the “fundamental cause for attaining enlightenment” and the “basis of Buddhism.”
• Unyielding Commitment: Even extensive study is insufficient without strong faith. Practitioners are urged to “strengthen your power of faith more than ever” and “maintain strong faith in the Gohonzon” (the object of devotion).
• Perceiving Buddha Nature: Chanting with firm faith in the Gohonzon enables one to “perceive the Buddha nature and attain Buddhahood.”

1. Discard Other Teachings:

• Refutation of Provisional Doctrines: Nichiren vehemently rejected all other Buddhist schools (e.g., Nembutsu, True Word, Zen) as “provisional or erroneous.” Believers should “honestly discarding expedient means” and not accept “even a single verse of the other sutras.”
• Condemn Slander: It is crucial to “condemn the slander of the Law” and cause others to reject erroneous teachings, engaging in “shakubuku,” or strict refutation.

1. Embrace Difficulties (Persecutions):

• Validation of Correct Practice: Persecutions are not merely obstacles but “fulfill the predictions in the Lotus Sutra” concerning its votary, thereby validating the correctness of one’s practice.
• Karma Cleansing: Difficulties help “erase the grave offenses of my past.”
• Resilience: Practitioners should “Suffer what there is to suffer, enjoy what there is to enjoy,” continuing to chant through all circumstances.

B. The Role of Study and Understanding

While chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is primary, the sources clarify that study of the Lotus Sutra is a vital, integrated, and highly valued component, serving to deepen faith, intellectual understanding, and the ability to propagate the teachings.

• Chanting Encompasses Study: Nichiren’s teaching that chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo “encompasses all other practices” implies that chanting the title connects deeply to the entire sutra’s meaning.
• Prescribed Reading and Recitation: Nichiren specifically advised reading and reciting the prose sections of the “Expedient Means” and “Life Span” chapters daily, seeing this as naturally including the essence of other chapters.
• Faith Over Intellectualism for All: For “persons of inferior faculties and inferior capacity,” “the essential thing is simply to have a heart of faith,” meaning deep intellectual understanding is not a prerequisite for attaining benefits.
• Importance for Deeper Insight: While not a prerequisite for all, deeper study is crucial for a thorough understanding of the Law, for “discern[ing] which is true and which is false,” and for effectively refuting erroneous teachings. Nichiren himself engaged in extensive study and encouraged followers to seek knowledge from those with “greater wisdom.”
• Sutra’s Profound Nature: The Lotus Sutra is described as “a profound and inspiring scripture,” containing “timeless wisdom,” whose wisdom “may puzzle the unaware, For higher knowledge, one must prepare.”

C. The Language of Practice: Chanting in the Original Sound

The sources explain why the core chant, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, is retained in its Sino-Japanese pronunciation rather than being fully translated for chanting, even while understanding the sutra’s content through translation is encouraged.

• Power of the Daimoku: Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is not merely a translation but the “mystic truth that is originally inherent in all living beings” and the “king of sutras, true and correct in both word and principle.”
• Effectiveness Independent of Comprehension: The chant’s power is inherent in its form and sound, making it “sufficient to escape from evil paths and attain Buddhahood, even without understanding its meaning.” This is likened to automatic physiological responses (e.g., mouths watering at “pickled plum”).
• Essence of the Sutra: Chanting the title “is considered the ‘essential practice’ that encompasses the entire twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra.” As Miao-lo is cited: “When for the sake of brevity one mentions only the daimoku, or title, the entire sutra is by implication included therein.”
• Distinction Between Chanting and Study: While study and understanding are “important to ‘study [the Lotus Sutra] and understand its meaning’,” these are separate from the core chanting practice. Translations are crucial for intellectual engagement, but the core chant retains its specific, potent form.
• Nature of Buddhist Language: Some Buddhist phrases, like dharanis in Sanskrit, are considered to have protective power when recited in their original sounds, suggesting a significance beyond semantic meaning.

II. Additional Directives

Beyond the core practices, Nichiren also provided guidance on related aspects of Buddhist life:

• Support the Votary of the Lotus Sutra: This refers to supporting Nichiren himself and his disciples who propagate the Law, as various Buddhas and deities have pledged to protect the votary.
• Uphold Filial Piety and Gratitude: Repaying debts of gratitude (to parents, teachers, the three treasures, and the sovereign) and filial piety are fundamental. However, if parents lead one away from the correct teaching, one must “cease deferring to my parents and teachers and instead to delve into the truths of Buddhism.”
• Act in Accord with the Time and Capacity: The method of propagation (shoju or shakubuku) and the teachings themselves must align with the “Latter Day of the Law,” the specific period for the spread of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

III. Conclusion

In essence, Nichiren’s practice mandates an unwavering commitment to chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the direct, potent, and universally accessible path to enlightenment. This is coupled with a fervent faith, the rejection of all other Buddhist teachings, and a willingness to embrace persecutions as signs of correct practice. While the study of the Lotus Sutra is a crucial complementary practice for deepening understanding and strengthening faith, the power of the core chant lies in its inherent efficacy, independent of intellectual comprehension, justifying its recitation in its original, sacred form.