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

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This briefing document reviews the core themes and essential ideas presented in “Buddhas Live in the Lotus Sutra: A Reflective Essay,” focusing on Nichiren Daishonin’s profound insights into the unique status of the Lotus Sutra.

Main Themes and Most Important Ideas/Facts:

1. The Lotus Sutra as the Essential “Environment” for Buddhas

Core Idea: Nichiren Daishonin emphasizes that the Lotus Sutra is not merely a scripture but the indispensable “environment” or “realm of life” for Buddhas. Just as living creatures depend on their natural elements, Buddhas depend on the Lotus Sutra for their existence and manifestation.

Key Analogies & Quotes:

• Nichiren uses vivid analogies:
• Frogs need their mother’s voice.
• The Indian lizard kṛkalāsa (kalakula) lives on the wind.
• Fish need water.
• Birds need trees for nests.
• “Likewise, Buddhas live in the Lotus Sūtra. As the moon’s reflection resides in the water, Buddhas reside in the Lotus Sūtra. Therefore, you must remember that where there is no Lotus Sūtra, there are no Buddhas.”
• The essay clarifies: “Buddhas cannot appear or attain enlightenment without the Lotus Sutra.”
• Nichiren even calls the Lotus Sutra “the father and mother of the Buddhas of the three existences and the ten directions,” as well as their “wet nurse and their lord,” asserting that it “gives birth to the Buddhas, nourishes them, and reigns supreme over their lives.”

Implication: The Lotus Sutra is uniquely crucial, representing the “Wonderful Dharma” apart from which true Buddhas cannot exist.

2. The Lotus Sutra as the Ultimate and Complete Teaching

Core Idea: Nichiren believed the Lotus Sutra to be the culmination of Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings, the supreme and final truth. All other sutras are provisional or preparatory, leading to this ultimate revelation.

Key Concepts & Quotes:

• It represents the “culmination of Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings – the final, complete truth after which nothing higher remains.”
• Other teachings are like “scaffolding” for the “great pagoda” of the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren states, “No one would ever dream of discarding the pagoda and worshipping the scaffolding,” criticizing those who cling to lesser teachings.
• The Lotus Sutra “perfectly accords with the Buddha’s true intent” and reveals the “ultimate reality that all beings can attain Buddhahood.”
• It proclaims that “even those previously thought excluded or unworthy – women, evil-doers like Devadatta, people in the evil ages – are all assured of becoming Buddhas in the end.”
• Shakyamuni Buddha himself states in the Lotus Sutra that he “now must reveal the truth” and “honestly discard expedient means,” teaching only “the One Vehicle to enlightenment for all.”

Implication: The Lotus Sutra is the “supreme teaching” because it universally assures Buddhahood and reveals the eternal Buddha who “has actually been a Buddha since the inconceivably distant past and continues to guide beings eternally.”

3. The Rarity and Preciousness of Encountering the Lotus Sutra

Core Idea: Encountering and practicing the Lotus Sutra in one’s lifetime is an extraordinarily rare and precious opportunity, signifying immense good karma accumulated over countless lifetimes.

Key Parables & Quotes:

• The Lotus Sutra uses the parable of a “one-eyed turtle” in the ocean, whose chance of encountering a floating sandalwood log with a perfect hole to rest in is astronomically small, yet “that is still easier than encountering the Lotus Sutra!”
• It is compared to the blooming of the “udumbara“ flower, said to blossom only once in 3,000 years.
• Nichiren asserts that meeting this teaching comes “only through enormous good karma and efforts over countless lifetimes.” He praises a follower’s faith, asking, “Could it be that Shakyamuni Buddha has entered your body, or is this the expression of your virtue accumulated in the past?”

Implication: This understanding cultivates gratitude and a sense of responsibility to deeply treasure and practice the sutra, recognizing it as the fruition of a long spiritual journey. Enduring hardships for the sutra is seen as proof of its predictions and a cause for joy.

4. The Contrast Between Transitory Attachments and the Everlasting Dharma

Core Idea: True security and happiness are found not in impermanent worldly attachments or provisional teachings, but in the “everlasting Dharma” of the Lotus Sutra.

Key Distinctions:

• Transitory Attachments: Seeking security in “material comfort, social status, physical youth, or even intellectual teachings that lack ultimate depth” leads to “disappointment [as] inevitable.” Worldly things are anicca (impermanent) and ultimately dukkha (unsatisfactory). Even provisional Buddhist teachings are “expedients,” not the final refuge.
• Everlasting Dharma (Lotus Sutra): It teaches the “eternity of the Buddha’s life and the permanence of the Buddha-nature in all beings.” Relying on this Law means aligning with something “timeless and unfailing,” leading to “deeper inner stability and hope.”
• “Our lives can become like the calm, vast ocean (the Buddha’s wisdom) rather than a small boat tossed on the waves of change.”
• Practitioners are “covered by the Buddha’s robe of compassion and protected by all the Buddhas.”

Implication: By “keeping and practicing this sutra” (e.g., chanting Nam-myōhō-renge-kyō), one finds an anchor beyond birth and death, transforming hardships into fuel for enlightenment. The true “Lotus Sutra” is our own inherent Buddha nature, providing a truly reliable home.

5. Enlightenment as Our True Birthright and Constant Guidance from the Buddha

Core Idea: The Lotus Sutra reveals that enlightenment is the inherent potential and “true birthright” of all beings, and the Buddha is constantly guiding us to achieve it.

Key Aspects & Quotes:

• Shakyamuni Buddha’s purpose was to reveal that “every living being possesses the Buddha nature and can unlock it.”
• The sutra predicts Buddhahood for all, including “Devadatta (who was seen as an evil person) and for women (like the Dragon King’s daughter),” shattering the idea of limited enlightenment.
• There is “only one vehicle (One Buddha Vehicle)” for all beings.
• Practitioners of the Lotus Sutra are the “Buddha’s true heirs” who will inherit “the riches of the Law.”
• The Buddha is “actively helping and guiding those who uphold the sutra,” with Buddhas of the ten directions assembling to protect practitioners.
• In the “Life Span” chapter, Shakyamuni states, “At all times I am thinking, ‘How can I cause living beings to gain entry to the unsurpassed path and quickly attain Buddhahood?’” This means “we are never alone” in our practice.

Implication: Our faith journey is supported by the Buddha’s boundless compassion. By upholding the Lotus Sutra, we not only move towards our own enlightenment but also invite the Buddha’s wisdom and compassion to pervade our environment, benefiting others. “Where the Lotus Sutra is, there the Buddha is alive and well – and where we uphold the Lotus Sutra, there we will find the Buddha within us, illuminating the path to our enlightenment.”