Letโs review how the Daishonin describes the Great Law of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo in the Gosho. From the three categories of comprehensive, abbreviated, and essential, the Daishonin specifically describes Myoho-Renge-Kyo as the ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ practice. Amongst the three phases of sowing, maturing, and harvesting, the Daishonin specifically refers to MyohoโRenge-Kyo as the Buddhism of the sowing. With regards to the sutra text, its meaning, and its intent, the Daishonin specifically states that Myoho-Renge-Kyo represents the ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. The Dashonin states in ๐๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ถ๐บ๐ฐ-๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ,
Furthermore, he states in ๐๐ฌ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ,๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฬ๐ฎ๐ป-๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. ๐ง๐ต๐๐ ๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ช๐ถ๐๐ฑ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐บ๐ฒ๐. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐๐บ๐ฎฬ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ท๐ถฬ๐๐ฎ, ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ, ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. ๐ง๐ต๐๐ ๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ช๐ถ๐๐ฑ๐ผ๐บ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ต๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐บ๐ฒ๐. ๐, ๐ก๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป, ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ต๐ผ-๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ-๐ธ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐ต๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐.
(๐๐ค๐จ๐๐ค ๐ฏ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐๐ช, ๐ฅ. 331)
Additionally, the Daishonin declares the following in ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ-๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ,๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ. ๐๐น๐น ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฎ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ต๐ผโ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒโ๐๐๐ผ.
(๐๐ค๐จ๐๐ค, ๐ฅ.1447-1448; ๐๐-7, ๐ฅ๐ฅ. 194-195)
Thus, as we can see from these passages, the Myoho-Renge-Kyo revealed by the Daishonin cannot simply be said to be the condensing of the text of the Lotus Sutra; this Great Law of the sowing hidden in the depths (๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฉ๐ถ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฉ๐ฐ) of the Life Span (๐๐ถ๐ณ๐บ๐ฐ; sixteenth) chapter differs fundamentally from Shakyamuniโs Buddhism of the harvest. This is the mystic Law (๐ฎ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฉ๐ฐ) that the Original Buddha was instantly enlightened to in the beginningless past of ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฏ-๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ซ๐ฐ, and the origin of all Buddhas of the three existences and the ten directions.๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ต๐ผโ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒโ๐๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐, ๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ. ๐ฆ๐ผ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ, ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐, ๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ'๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐.
(๐๐ค๐จ๐๐ค, ๐ฅ. 1114; ๐๐-6. ๐ฅ. 224)
In accordance with the principles set forth above, we can see that it is also erroneous to claim that Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo is merely an abbreviated practice of the Great Teacher Tiantaiโs threefold contemplation in a single mind. For the sake of brevity, I will save discussion of this topic for another post, but the practice of concentration and insight (๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ) represents a veiled or alloyed form of the mystic Law, suitable for the time and capacities of the Middle Day of the Law.
The assertion that the Daishoninโs goal was simply to condense the practice of the Lotus Sutra into the five or seven characters of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo truly belittles the ultimate purpose of the Founderโs advent into this world. Generally speaking, the various lineages (๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ณ๐บ๐ถ) descending from the five senior priests (๐จ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฐ) are in a state of grave error on this fundamental principle. We must understand that the Myoho-Renge-Kyo revealed by the Daishonin is the mystic Law of the Buddhism of the sowing of the true cause (๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ชโ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฐ) that will illuminate the infinite darkness of the fifth five hundred year period. The Daishonin embodied this Great Law, his inner enlightenment, into the Gohonzon of the essential teaching. Thus, we chant Daimoku to the Gohonzon of the oneness of the Person and the Law with unwavering faith and conviction, we can attain the great benefit of enlightenment in our present form (๐ด๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ถ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ถ) in this lifetime (๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ถ).