Why excepting prajnaparamita?

[illarraza]

How is it possible with our fleshy eyes, ordinary ears, human organ of smell [less developed than even that of a dog or a fish], three inch tongue, skin, feces and urine bag of a body, and base, common and insubstantial mind, all received from our parents, obtain the divine eyes and five types of vision, the ability to hear the "Light Sound and Universal Purity", perceive the odors of all beings, their thoughts, karmas and merits, have "the Buddhas and their disciples all come to hear your discourses" [through the marvelous function of your tongue], obtain "a body as a pure bright mirror" in which every image is seen, and develop a mind that is "pure, lucid, acute, unperturbed" by which you will "know all laws, high, low and mean"?

The Lotus Sutra teaches that merely by receiving and keeping the Lotus Sutra [Myoho renge kyo], the merits of the preacher (Lotus Sutra Chapter 19) are such as these. If you have these merits you share the mind of the Buddha, you are living in accord with the Buddha.

Chapter 17 of the Lotus Sutra teaches:

"At that time the Buddha told Maitreya Bodhisattva Mahasattva, "Ajita! If there are living beings who, on hearing that the Buddha’s life span is as long as this, can bring forth even a single thought of faith and understanding, the merit and virtue they will gain is measureless and limitless. If a good man or a good woman, for the sake of anuttara samyak sambodhi, were to practice the five paramitas: dana-paramita, shila-paramita, kshanti-paramita, virya-paramita, and dhyana-paramita; all except prajnaparamita throughout eighty myriads of millions of nayutas of eons, the merit and virtue he or she would derive if compared with that of the previous person’s would not come to a hundredth part, nor to a thousandth, nor to a hundred thousand myriad millionth part, nor could it be known by resort to calculation or analogy."

"For a good man or a good woman possessing merit and virtue such as this, to retreat from anuttara samyak sambodhi would be simply impossible."

"At that time, the World Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke verses saying,

If someone wished to seek the Buddha’s wisdom
Throughout eighty myriads of millions
Of nayutas of kalpas,
Practicing the five paramitas
Throughout all those eons,
He would give by making offerings to the Buddhas,
The Pratyekabuddha disciples,
And to the hosts of Bodhisattvas.
His gifts might be rare and precious food and drink,
Fine clothing, and bedding.
He might give pure abodes made of chandana
And adorned by gardens and groves.
Gifts such as these,
Varied and fine,
Throughout this number of eons,
He would dedicate to the Buddha Way.
Further he might hold the prohibitive precepts purely,
Without flaw or fault,
Seeking the supreme path,
Praised by all the Buddhas.
Again, he might practice patience,
Dwelling on the Ground of Compliance,
So that should evil befall him,
His mind would not be disturbed.
Also if those who have gained the Dharma,
But who harbor overweening pride,
Ridicule and torment him,
He would be able to bear it.
He might be diligent and vigorous,
Ever solid in his resolve,
Throughout limitless millions of eons,
Single-minded and never lax.
And for countless eons he might
Dwell in a tranquil place,
Ever collecting his thoughts, avoiding sleep,
While either sitting or walking.
Because of these causes and conditions,
He would then give rise to dhyana concentration,
So that for eighty millions of myriads of eons,
His mind would be secure and unconfused.
Blessed with this single-mindedness,
He would seek the unsurpassed path, saying,
"May I gain All-Wisdom
And exhaust the limits of dhyana concentrations."
This person, for hundreds of thousands
Of tens of millions of eons,
Might practice such meritorious virtues
As told above.
But should there be a good man or woman
Who, hearing me speak of my life span,
Gives rise to even a single thought of faith,
His or her blessings will exceed those of the person just described.
Any person who can be completely free
Of doubts and misgivings
And, with deep thought, believe for but an instant,
Will reap blessings such as those.
Should there be Bodhisattvas
Who have practiced the Way for limitless eons
And who hear me speak of my life span,
They shall be able to believe and accept it.
Persons such as these
Will receive this Sutra atop their heads,
Vowing, "May we in the future
Gain long lives and save living beings.
Just as today the World Honored One,
King of the Shakyas, In the Bodhimanda puts forth the lion’s roar,
Speaking the Dharma without fear,
So may we in lives to come
Be revered by all
And, while seated in the Bodhimanda,
Speak of our life spans in the same way."
Should there be those who deeply believe,
Who are pure and straightforward,
With much learning and dharanis,
Who explain the Buddhas’ words according to the doctrine
Persons such as these
Will have no doubts about this matter.

"Further, Ajita, if anyone hears of the long duration of the Buddha’s life span and understands the import of these words, the merit and virtue such a one gains will be without boundary or limit, for it shall enable one to give rise to the supreme wisdom of the Thus Come One."

"How much the more so will this be the case for one who can listen to this Sutra extensively; ask others to listen; uphold it oneself; ask others to uphold it; write it out oneself; ask others to write it out; or use flowers, incense, beads, banners, flags, silk canopies, fragrant oils, or butter lamps to make offerings to this Sutra. Such a person’s merit and virtue will be limitless and boundless, for it shall enable that person to give rise to the Wisdom of All Modes."

"Ajita! If a good man or good woman hears of the long duration of the Buddha’s life span and with a deep mind believes and understands, he or she will then see the Buddha ever-present on Mount Gridhrakuta together with the great Bodhisattvas and the assembly of Hearers surrounding him as he speaks the Dharma. He or she will also see the Saha world’s soil become lapis lazuli. It will be flat and even, with eight major roads bordered with Jambunada gold and lined with jeweled trees. Adjacent to the roads will be pavilions and towers all made of jewels, wherein hosts of Bodhisattvas dwell. To behold in this way is indicative of deep faith and understanding."

"Further, after the passing into stillness of the Thus Come One, if a person hears this Sutra and does not defame it but instead rejoices over it, you should know that that indicates he already has deep faith and understanding."

"How much the more so is this the case for one who reads, recites, receives, and upholds it."

"This person carries the Thus Come One on the top of his head."

"Ajita! This good man or good woman need not build stupas or temples for me, nor build Sangha dwellings, nor make the four kinds of offerings to the Sangha. Why not? This good man or good woman, in receiving, upholding, reading, and reciting this Sutra, has already built stupas, erected Sangha dwellings, and made offerings to the Sangha. He has built stupas of the seven treasures for the Buddha’s sharira. The stupas are high and broad, tapering up to the Brahma Heavens, hung with banners and canopies. He has also offered many jeweled bells, flowers, incense, beads, ground incense, paste incense, and burning incense, as well as many drums, musical instruments, pipes, flutes, reeds, various dances, and praises sung with wonderful sounds. He has already made such offerings throughout limitless thousands of myriads of millions of eons."

Prajnaparamita is excepted because Namu Myoho renge kyo is prajnaparamita, embodies the infinite lifespan of the Buddha, and encompasses the the other paramitas.

[Queequeg]

1. The bolded parts do not apply to us because that's talking about people who hear the teaching directly from the Buddha. We hear of the life span after the parinirvana.

2. That passage is talking about the benefits gained from practicing the 5 paramita, excluding Prajna to point out the benefit of hearing of the Buddha's life span. The benefit of practicing Prajna is not exceeded by hearing the teaching.

However, Nichiren taught clearly he believed that Prajna is beyond those in Mappo. People in Mappo are at the stage of hearing the name, second of six identities and first stage of practice where merely hearing the teaching and not disparaging it is the practice - Nichiren said one does not even need to rejoice.

He was talking about adhimukti as the correct mind. At that stage there is no wisdom. One is compared to an insect that chews a letter A in a piece of wood. The insect can't read.

There is no substantial wisdom at this stage. That's why one must practice faith/adhimukti.

I keep suggesting that you look at 4 Faiths and Five Practices. You'll get a lot out of that.

[Queequeg]

I don't have the motivation to provide alternate translations, but you'll find the NOPAA translation to be consistent with this SG translation. Here is the teaching in a nutshell in the Shishin Gohon sho (On the Four Stages of Faith and Five Stages of Practice):

Scholars of Buddhism these days all agree on the following: Whether in the Buddha’s lifetime or after his passing, those who wish to practice the Lotus Sutra must devote themselves to the three types of learning. If they neglect any one of these, they cannot attain the Buddha way.

Three types of learning are sila (ethics/morality), dhyana (meditation) and prajna (wisdom).

In the past, I, too, subscribed to this opinion. Setting aside here the sacred teachings of the Buddha’s lifetime as a whole, let us examine the question in the light of the Lotus Sutra. Here, too, we may set aside the teachings contained in the preparation and revelation sections. That brings us to the transmission section, which constitutes a clear mirror for the Latter Day of the Law and is most to be relied upon [in determining this matter].

Nichiren explained the Preparation, Revelation, and Transmission in Kanjin no Honzon sho.

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]. 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.

Preparation is how a Buddha, through expedient means, prepares the listener to hear a teaching - gathers them in a place, cultivates the listener's interest in a teaching, opens up their mind to receive a teaching, etc. Revelation is the teaching itself. Transmission is the accepting and practicing of the teaching by the listener. Transmission is the point where the teaching becomes a matter belonging to the listener, so to speak. Receiving a teaching means that the listener accepts the teaching and puts it into practice. So it is notable that Nichiren is talking about transmission in this writing - he is explaining the correct practice in his teaching.

As an aside, I would point out that this division of teachings into preparation, revelation and transmission is critical to understand Nichiren's teachigns, and in particular, the Three Great Secret Laws - the Gohonzon, the Daimoku, and the Kaidan. In the passage immediately preceding the quote above from Kanjin no Honzon sho, Nichiren wrote:

The true object of devotion is described as follows:

The treasure tower sits in the air above the sahā world that the Buddha of the essential teaching [identified as the pure and eternal land]; Myoho-renge-kyo appears in the center of the tower with the Buddhas Shakyamuni and Many Treasures seated to the right and left, and, flanking them, the four bodhisattvas, followers of Shakyamuni, led by Superior Practices. Manjushrī, Maitreya, and the other bodhisattvas, who are all followers of the four bodhisattvas, are seated below. All the other major and minor bodhisattvas, whether they are disciples of the Buddha in his transient status or of the Buddhas of the other worlds, are like commoners kneeling on the ground in the presence of nobles and high-ranking court officials. The Buddhas who gathered from the other worlds in the ten directions all remain on the ground, showing that they are only temporary manifestations of the eternal Buddha and that their lands are transient, not eternal and unchanging.

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.

The Gohonzon depicts the Ceremony in the Air, particularly, the Life Span Chapter where Shakyamuni reveals his real identity, ie. the revelation. When one sits before the Gohonzon, they are enacting the revelation, and in chanting the Daimoku with faith, one is receiving the transmission. That place where one sits is the Kaidan. A Kaidan is a place where practitioners formally receive ordination and enter the sangha. In Nichiren's teaching which transcends the limited scope of Vinaya rules, the Kaidan refers to the place where any being hears and receives the Essential Teaching, and specifically, refers to a formal ordination platform to be established when the emperor of Japan converts to his teaching.

Returning to this writing - the word "faith" is critically important here. Nichiren explains what he means by faith and why it is the essence of the practice he taught in this writing,

The transmission section has two parts. The first is that of the theoretical teaching and consists of the five chapters beginning with the “Teacher of the Law” chapter. The second is that of the essential teaching and consists of the latter part of the “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter through the eleven chapters that comprise the remainder of the sutra. The five chapters from the theoretical teaching and the eleven and a half chapters from the essential teaching combine to make sixteen and a half chapters, and in these it is clearly explained how one should practice the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law. If this is not convincing enough, then further examining the matter in light of the Universal Worthy and Nirvana sutras3 will surely leave no doubt.

Within these chapters of transmission, the four stages of faith and the five stages of practice expounded in the “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter refer to what is most important in the practice of the Lotus Sutra, and are a standard for those living in the time of the Buddha and after his passing.

The passage you quoted from the 17th Chapter of the Lotus is the exposition of the Four Stages of Faith and Five Stages Practice.

Ching-hsi writes, “‘To produce even a single moment of belief and understanding’ represents the beginning in the practice of the essential teaching.” Of these various stages, the four stages of faith are intended for those living in the Buddha’s lifetime, and the five stages of practice, for those living after his passing. Among these, the first of the four stages of faith is that of producing even a single moment of belief and understanding, and the first of the five stages of practice is that of rejoicing on hearing the Lotus Sutra. These two stages together are the treasure chest of the hundred worlds and thousand factors and of three thousand realms in a single moment of life; they are the gate from which all Buddhas of the ten directions and the three existences emerge.

"Belief and Understanding" is a critical term here. It comes from the Lotus Sutra and is the name of the third chapter. 信解 is a translation of adhimukti. This refers to the moment a dharma first makes an impression on one's consciousness, but before any observation can be made about it. For example - the form of a red car makes contact with the eyes and that sensation in turn makes contact with the mind organ. In that first moment of awareness of the red car, the mind has not yet made an observation, "red car", but rather only of some red form. The mind has not yet formed any observation yet, only that there is an object, not even that its red, in particular. This is the moment of adhimukti - the bare cognition that there is something to observe.

At the opening of the 16th chapter, the Buddha urges the Assembly, "You must believe and understand the words of the Tathagata." In this passage, he's not actually urging the Assembly to particularly "believe" or "understand"; he's actually just telling the Assembly to adhimukti what he's about to say. Nichiren in this writing carefully peels back the meaning to get at this, cutting the compound 信解 down to 信. This character is usually translated as "faith" but if you carefully consider this writing, and the background of this term, its clear that this English translation is inadequate and actually misleading. Nichiren is not talking about faith, as in believing or trusting something. He's talking about just being receptive to this teaching.

Nichiren continues in this writing to identify the First Stage of Faith and First Stage of Practice with the Second of Six Identities, Hearing the Name. (The Six Identities are 1. Buddha in Principle; 2. Hearing the Name; 3. Identity in Contemplative Practice; 4. Resemblance to Buddhahood; 5. Partial realization; and 6. Ultimate Identity (Buddhahood)) This is when a person hears the teaching for the first time.

Zhiyi describes this stage in Makashikan:

If you have not heard of the threefold truth and are completely unaware of the Buddha Dharma, you are like cattle or sheep whose eyes do not comprehend the [eight] directions. When you hear of the one true bodhi-wisdom as explained above—whether from a teacher or from [reading] the scripture scrolls)—attain penetrating understanding within [the limits of] words, and know that all dharmas are the Buddha Dharma, this is bodhi[citta] as indivisible with words.

This is also called “verbal cessation-and-contemplation.” If you rush from place to place in search of [the truth] when you have not yet heard [these teachings], and then hear them, and the mind striving upward ³nally ³nds rest—this is called “cessation” [at the verbal level]. To have faith in [a verbal and conceptual understanding of] Dharma-nature and not [yet] have faith in the variety [of wider implications] is called contemplation or insight [at the verbal level].

[He then goes on to further elaborate on the nature of a person at this stage to contrast it with the contemplative practice that occurs at the next level]

Identity in Contemplative Practice

Identity in contemplative practice means that if you merely hear the verbal and oral explanation [of the Buddha Dharma], you are like an insect chewing on wood and accidentally making letters. That insect does not know whether [the marks it is making] are letters or not letters. If you do not have penetrating understanding, how can you have bodhi-wisdom? It is imperative that your mental insight is clear and full, so that there is a correspondence between the principle [of reality] and your wisdom, that your actions are in accordance with your words, and that your words are in accordance with your actions.

At the level of Hearing the Name, one merely hears the teaching, but does not understand it at all. The teaching makes an impression and the mind determines that there is an object to discern. The discerning starts at the next step - Identity in Contemplative Practice. This is where one starts to reflect on the teaching and begin to penetrate its meaning.

My opinion is that, of the three interpretations, the one that refers to hearing the name and words of the truth accords best with the text of the Lotus Sutra. For, in describing the first of the five stages of practice that apply to the time after the Buddha’s passing, the sutra speaks of those who “[hear this sutra and] do not slander or speak ill of it but feel joy in their hearts.” If one equates the stage described here with a level as advanced as the five stages of practice at the stage of resemblance to enlightenment, then the words “do not slander or speak ill of it” would hardly be appropriate.

In particular, the passages in the “Life Span” chapter that speak of those who are “out of their minds” and those who are “not out of their minds” refer in both cases to the stage of hearing the name and words of the truth. The Nirvana Sutra says, “Whether they have faith or do not have faith . . . ,” and “If there are living beings who, in the presence of Buddhas numerous as the sands of the Hiranyavatī River, have conceived the desire for enlightenment, then when they are born in an evil age such as this, they will be able to accept and uphold a sutra like this and will never slander it.” One should also consider these passages.

Again, in the four-character phrase “a single moment of belief and understanding,” the word “belief” applies to the first of the four stages of faith, and the word “understanding,” to those that follow. And if this is so, then faith without understanding would apply to the first of the four stages of faith. The second stage of faith is described in the sutra as that at which one “generally understands the import of the words” of the sutra. And in volume nine of The Annotations on “The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra” we read, “The initial stage of faith is different from the others, because in the initial stage there is as yet no understanding.”

Then we come to the following “Responding with Joy” chapter, where the initial stage of rejoicing on hearing the Lotus Sutra is restated and clarified in terms of fifty persons who in turn hear and rejoice in the Lotus Sutra, the merit that they gain thereby decreasing with each successive person. With regard to the stage achieved by the fiftieth person, there are two interpretations. The first interpretation holds that the fiftieth person falls within the stage of rejoicing on hearing the Lotus Sutra. The other interpretation holds that the fiftieth person cannot yet be said to have entered the stage of rejoicing on hearing the Lotus Sutra but is still at the stage of hearing the name and words of the truth. This is what one commentary means when it says, “The truer the teaching, the lower the stage [of those it can bring to enlightenment].” Thus, for example, the perfect teaching can save people of lower capacity than can the doctrines of the four flavors and three teachings. Similarly, the Lotus Sutra can save people of lower capacity than can the perfect teaching expounded prior to the Lotus Sutra, and the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra can save more people than can the theoretical teaching—people of any capacity at all. One should carefully ponder the six-character phrase: “the truer the teaching, the lower the stage.”

Consider that Nichiren assumes that Mappo has started and the people born now for the most part have no connection to Buddha. The point of his teaching is for people to "Hear" the teaching and to merely receive it. "Man's mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its previous dimensions." Once one hears of the Tathagata, it cannot be unheard.

If you ask, what is Tathagata, then eventually one hears of the Dharmakaya - the Buddha as reality itself. Nichiren is teaching people to open up to reality-as-it-is - shoho jisso. Indeed, this is the same point one finds throughout Buddhist teachings - one suffers because they are mistaken about reality. The only way to not be mistaken about reality is to know reality. The first step to knowing reality is to hear about it from a teacher. The rest is cultivation.

As for why the five paramitas are excluded, this is clearly explained in this writing. Its because those five paramitas would be a distracting burden to those who are just entering the Buddhist path. So the practitioner is urged to focus on wisdom (prajnaparamita). However, at the stage of hearing the name, there is no understanding, so one at that stage should cultivate faith (adhimukti).

[illarraza]

I don't have the motivation to provide alternate translations, but you'll find the NOPAA translation to be consistent with this SG translation. Here is the teaching in a nutshell in the Shishin Gohon sho (On the Four Stages of Faith and Five Stages of Practice):

Scholars of Buddhism these days all agree on the following: Whether in the Buddha’s lifetime or after his passing, those who wish to practice the Lotus Sutra must devote themselves to the three types of learning. If they neglect any one of these, they cannot attain the Buddha way.

Three types of learning are sila (ethics/morality), dhyana (meditation) and prajna (wisdom).

In the past, I, too, subscribed to this opinion. Setting aside here the sacred teachings of the Buddha’s lifetime as a whole, let us examine the question in the light of the Lotus Sutra. Here, too, we may set aside the teachings contained in the preparation and revelation sections. That brings us to the transmission section, which constitutes a clear mirror for the Latter Day of the Law and is most to be relied upon [in determining this matter].

Nichiren explained the Preparation, Revelation, and Transmission in Kanjin no Honzon sho.

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]. 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.

Preparation is how a Buddha, through expedient means, prepares the listener to hear a teaching - gathers them in a place, cultivates the listener's interest in a teaching, opens up their mind to receive a teaching, etc. Revelation is the teaching itself. Transmission is the accepting and practicing of the teaching by the listener. Transmission is the point where the teaching becomes a matter belonging to the listener, so to speak. Receiving a teaching means that the listener accepts the teaching and puts it into practice. So it is notable that Nichiren is talking about transmission in this writing - he is explaining the correct practice in his teaching.

As an aside, I would point out that this division of teachings into preparation, revelation and transmission is critical to understand Nichiren's teachigns, and in particular, the Three Great Secret Laws - the Gohonzon, the Daimoku, and the Kaidan. In the passage immediately preceding the quote above from Kanjin no Honzon sho, Nichiren wrote:

The true object of devotion is described as follows:

The treasure tower sits in the air above the sahā world that the Buddha of the essential teaching [identified as the pure and eternal land]; Myoho-renge-kyo appears in the center of the tower with the Buddhas Shakyamuni and Many Treasures seated to the right and left, and, flanking them, the four bodhisattvas, followers of Shakyamuni, led by Superior Practices. Manjushrī, Maitreya, and the other bodhisattvas, who are all followers of the four bodhisattvas, are seated below. All the other major and minor bodhisattvas, whether they are disciples of the Buddha in his transient status or of the Buddhas of the other worlds, are like commoners kneeling on the ground in the presence of nobles and high-ranking court officials. The Buddhas who gathered from the other worlds in the ten directions all remain on the ground, showing that they are only temporary manifestations of the eternal Buddha and that their lands are transient, not eternal and unchanging.

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.

The Gohonzon depicts the Ceremony in the Air, particularly, the Life Span Chapter where Shakyamuni reveals his real identity, ie. the revelation. When one sits before the Gohonzon, they are enacting the revelation, and in chanting the Daimoku with faith, one is receiving the transmission. That place where one sits is the Kaidan. A Kaidan is a place where practitioners formally receive ordination and enter the sangha. In Nichiren's teaching which transcends the limited scope of Vinaya rules, the Kaidan refers to the place where any being hears and receives the Essential Teaching, and specifically, refers to a formal ordination platform to be established when the emperor of Japan converts to his teaching.

Returning to this writing - the word "faith" is critically important here. Nichiren explains what he means by faith and why it is the essence of the practice he taught in this writing,

The transmission section has two parts. The first is that of the theoretical teaching and consists of the five chapters beginning with the “Teacher of the Law” chapter. The second is that of the essential teaching and consists of the latter part of the “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter through the eleven chapters that comprise the remainder of the sutra. The five chapters from the theoretical teaching and the eleven and a half chapters from the essential teaching combine to make sixteen and a half chapters, and in these it is clearly explained how one should practice the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law. If this is not convincing enough, then further examining the matter in light of the Universal Worthy and Nirvana sutras3 will surely leave no doubt.

Within these chapters of transmission, the four stages of faith and the five stages of practice expounded in the “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter refer to what is most important in the practice of the Lotus Sutra, and are a standard for those living in the time of the Buddha and after his passing.

The passage you quoted from the 17th Chapter of the Lotus is the exposition of the Four Stages of Faith and Five Stages Practice.

Ching-hsi writes, “‘To produce even a single moment of belief and understanding’ represents the beginning in the practice of the essential teaching.” Of these various stages, the four stages of faith are intended for those living in the Buddha’s lifetime, and the five stages of practice, for those living after his passing. Among these, the first of the four stages of faith is that of producing even a single moment of belief and understanding, and the first of the five stages of practice is that of rejoicing on hearing the Lotus Sutra. These two stages together are the treasure chest of the hundred worlds and thousand factors and of three thousand realms in a single moment of life; they are the gate from which all Buddhas of the ten directions and the three existences emerge.

"Belief and Understanding" is a critical term here. It comes from the Lotus Sutra and is the name of the third chapter. 信解 is a translation of adhimukti. This refers to the moment a dharma first makes an impression on one's consciousness, but before any observation can be made about it. For example - the form of a red car makes contact with the eyes and that sensation in turn makes contact with the mind organ. In that first moment of awareness of the red car, the mind has not yet made an observation, "red car", but rather only of some red form. The mind has not yet formed any observation yet, only that there is an object, not even that its red, in particular. This is the moment of adhimukti - the bare cognition that there is something to observe.

At the opening of the 16th chapter, the Buddha urges the Assembly, "You must believe and understand the words of the Tathagata." In this passage, he's not actually urging the Assembly to particularly "believe" or "understand"; he's actually just telling the Assembly to adhimukti what he's about to say. Nichiren in this writing carefully peels back the meaning to get at this, cutting the compound 信解 down to 信. This character is usually translated as "faith" but if you carefully consider this writing, and the background of this term, its clear that this English translation is inadequate and actually misleading. Nichiren is not talking about faith, as in believing or trusting something. He's talking about just being receptive to this teaching.

Nichiren continues in this writing to identify the First Stage of Faith and First Stage of Practice with the Second of Six Identities, Hearing the Name. (The Six Identities are 1. Buddha in Principle; 2. Hearing the Name; 3. Identity in Contemplative Practice; 4. Resemblance to Buddhahood; 5. Partial realization; and 6. Ultimate Identity (Buddhahood)) This is when a person hears the teaching for the first time.

Zhiyi describes this stage in Makashikan:

If you have not heard of the threefold truth and are completely unaware of the Buddha Dharma, you are like cattle or sheep whose eyes do not comprehend the [eight] directions. When you hear of the one true bodhi-wisdom as explained above—whether from a teacher or from [reading] the scripture scrolls)—attain penetrating understanding within [the limits of] words, and know that all dharmas are the Buddha Dharma, this is bodhi[citta] as indivisible with words.

This is also called “verbal cessation-and-contemplation.” If you rush from place to place in search of [the truth] when you have not yet heard [these teachings], and then hear them, and the mind striving upward ³nally ³nds rest—this is called “cessation” [at the verbal level]. To have faith in [a verbal and conceptual understanding of] Dharma-nature and not [yet] have faith in the variety [of wider implications] is called contemplation or insight [at the verbal level].

[He then goes on to further elaborate on the nature of a person at this stage to contrast it with the contemplative practice that occurs at the next level]

Identity in Contemplative Practice

Identity in contemplative practice means that if you merely hear the verbal and oral explanation [of the Buddha Dharma], you are like an insect chewing on wood and accidentally making letters. That insect does not know whether [the marks it is making] are letters or not letters. If you do not have penetrating understanding, how can you have bodhi-wisdom? It is imperative that your mental insight is clear and full, so that there is a correspondence between the principle [of reality] and your wisdom, that your actions are in accordance with your words, and that your words are in accordance with your actions.

At the level of Hearing the Name, one merely hears the teaching, but does not understand it at all. The teaching makes an impression and the mind determines that there is an object to discern. The discerning starts at the next step - Identity in Contemplative Practice. This is where one starts to reflect on the teaching and begin to penetrate its meaning.

My opinion is that, of the three interpretations, the one that refers to hearing the name and words of the truth accords best with the text of the Lotus Sutra. For, in describing the first of the five stages of practice that apply to the time after the Buddha’s passing, the sutra speaks of those who “[hear this sutra and] do not slander or speak ill of it but feel joy in their hearts.” If one equates the stage described here with a level as advanced as the five stages of practice at the stage of resemblance to enlightenment, then the words “do not slander or speak ill of it” would hardly be appropriate.

In particular, the passages in the “Life Span” chapter that speak of those who are “out of their minds” and those who are “not out of their minds” refer in both cases to the stage of hearing the name and words of the truth. The Nirvana Sutra says, “Whether they have faith or do not have faith . . . ,” and “If there are living beings who, in the presence of Buddhas numerous as the sands of the Hiranyavatī River, have conceived the desire for enlightenment, then when they are born in an evil age such as this, they will be able to accept and uphold a sutra like this and will never slander it.” One should also consider these passages.

Again, in the four-character phrase “a single moment of belief and understanding,” the word “belief” applies to the first of the four stages of faith, and the word “understanding,” to those that follow. And if this is so, then faith without understanding would apply to the first of the four stages of faith. The second stage of faith is described in the sutra as that at which one “generally understands the import of the words” of the sutra. And in volume nine of The Annotations on “The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra” we read, “The initial stage of faith is different from the others, because in the initial stage there is as yet no understanding.”

Then we come to the following “Responding with Joy” chapter, where the initial stage of rejoicing on hearing the Lotus Sutra is restated and clarified in terms of fifty persons who in turn hear and rejoice in the Lotus Sutra, the merit that they gain thereby decreasing with each successive person. With regard to the stage achieved by the fiftieth person, there are two interpretations. The first interpretation holds that the fiftieth person falls within the stage of rejoicing on hearing the Lotus Sutra. The other interpretation holds that the fiftieth person cannot yet be said to have entered the stage of rejoicing on hearing the Lotus Sutra but is still at the stage of hearing the name and words of the truth. This is what one commentary means when it says, “The truer the teaching, the lower the stage [of those it can bring to enlightenment].” Thus, for example, the perfect teaching can save people of lower capacity than can the doctrines of the four flavors and three teachings. Similarly, the Lotus Sutra can save people of lower capacity than can the perfect teaching expounded prior to the Lotus Sutra, and the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra can save more people than can the theoretical teaching—people of any capacity at all. One should carefully ponder the six-character phrase: “the truer the teaching, the lower the stage.”

Consider that Nichiren assumes that Mappo has started and the people born now for the most part have no connection to Buddha. The point of his teaching is for people to "Hear" the teaching and to merely receive it. "Man's mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its previous dimensions." Once one hears of the Tathagata, it cannot be unheard.

If you ask, what is Tathagata, then eventually one hears of the Dharmakaya - the Buddha as reality itself. Nichiren is teaching people to open up to reality-as-it-is - shoho jisso. Indeed, this is the same point one finds throughout Buddhist teachings - one suffers because they are mistaken about reality. The only way to not be mistaken about reality is to know reality. The first step to knowing reality is to hear about it from a teacher. The rest is cultivation.

As for why the five paramitas are excluded, this is clearly explained in this writing. Its because those five paramitas would be a distracting burden to those who are just entering the Buddhist path. So the practitioner is urged to focus on wisdom (prajnaparamita). However, at the stage of hearing the name, there is no understanding, so one at that stage should cultivate faith (adhimukti).

An incredibly complete answer with much much much to digest. Thank you for your effort and understanding. I will reflect on the words of the Sutra and Nichiren Daishonin on this matter. The reason I conclude that prajnaparamita is Myoho renge kyo itself is the following...

The Paramita of Wisdom or Buddha Wisdom is that which gives rise to Myoho renge kyo. In the history of the universe, only one man, Shakyamuni Buddha, the Original Buddha since time without beginning who, has been training and guiding all others to Buddhahood, was originally enlightened to Myoho renge kyo. This realization is an integral part of Nichiren Daishonin's enlightenment and the enlightenment of all Buddhas throughout the Ten Directions and Three Existences. Only the Original Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni has always and exclusively practiced and taught the True Law since time without beginning.

Original Teacher means that no matter how eminent, wise, or knowledgeable one may be, no matter how diligent one is in carrying out the other Five Paramitas (Five Perfections), and no matter how long one practices them, there is no way that one could come up with, let alone reveal, Myoho renge kyo independently of Shakyamuni Buddha of the Juryo Chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Shakyamuni Buddha, in the history of the universe, was the one unique individual capable of doing so. Nichiren realized this, taught this, and reverenced Shakyamuni Buddha for His astronomical feat of autonomous self-practice. That is why He, rather than any other individual, is revered as the person of the Gohonzon of Ninpo-Ika (Oneness of Person and Law).

We owe our very Enlightenment to this Buddha and this Buddha alone. The arrogance of those who misconstrue Shakyamuni Buddha’s and Nichiren Daishonin’s words for their own aggrandizement is cause to fall into the Lower Worlds and to remain there for a very long time. How can one follow anyone who is so blind to the manifest reality that someone had to give them the Five Characters that they pay homage to? Daisaku Ikeda, for example, didn’t come up with the formula Myoho renge kyo. Likewise, the High Priests of the various lineages didn’t come up with this formula. Even Nichiren Daishonin didn’t realize and expound Myoho renge kyo since the infinite past (although he as Bodhisatva Jogyo Superior Practices was the first to receive Myoho renge kyo). It was Shakyamuni Buddha who taught Nichiren Daishonin and the other Bodhisattvas of the Earth Myoho renge kyo in the remote past. The Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni planted the seed of Myoho renge kyo in the Buddha-nature of his disciples, the seed that, when watered with a correct faith and practice, grows into the magnificent tree of the Supreme Enlightenment of Myoho. We, as disciples of this Buddha, are entrusted with task of planting the seeds of Myoho renge kyo in the ill children of Latter Day, in the example of Nichiren Daishonin.

Mark