Comparison Between the Essential Teaching and the Theoretical Teaching of the Lotus Sutra

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_johnarundel_
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Comparison Between the Essential Teaching and the Theoretical Teaching of the Lotus Sutra

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The comparison between the essential teaching (๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ) and the theoretical teaching (๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ) constitutes the fourth level of the fivefold comparison (๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ซ๐˜ถ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ช), where the latter 14 chapters of the Lotus Sutra that constitute the essential teaching are defined as superior to the first fourteen chapters that constitute the theoretical teaching (๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ซ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ด๐˜ถ). The Founder Nichiren Daishonin clearly elucidated the importance of this comparison in the Gosho, ๐˜‘๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ซ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด๐˜ถ ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ:
๐—™๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐˜๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ณ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐˜„๐—ผ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด. ๐—ข๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ต. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐˜๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜โ€ฆ.๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€, ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐—น๐˜† ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜. ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—•๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—ต๐—ฎ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ, ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—•๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—ต๐—ฎ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฎ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ-๐—ต๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ-๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ-๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ-๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ-๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐˜†. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜๐˜„๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€๐—ผ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜€. ๐—ข๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ณ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜‚๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ.
(๐™‚๐™ค๐™จ๐™๐™ค ๐™ฏ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™จ๐™๐™ช, ๐™ฅ. 995)
The Daishonin could not be any clearer on the importance of understanding the superiority of the essential teaching over the theoretical teaching. Letโ€™s now look at the specific reasons as to why the essential teaching is superior to the theoretical teaching.

The Daishonin explains that the theoretical teaching corrected one of the faults of the pre-Lotus Sutra teaching: persons of the two vehicles could not attain Buddhahood. Thus, Shakyamuni Buddhaโ€™s revelation of the doctrine of the true entity of all phenomena (๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ซ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฐ) and his predictions of the attainment of enlightenment of the persons of the two vehicles formed the basis of the doctrine of theoretical ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ป๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ. However, there is still another flaw that exists in this teaching; it is preached by a provisional Buddha: Shakyamuni who attained enlightenment for the first time in India (๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ซ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ). The Daishonin explains in ๐˜’๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ-๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ,
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—˜๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐— ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€ (๐™๐™ค๐™—๐™š๐™ฃ) ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐˜„๐—ผ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—น๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ-๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐˜๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—•๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐˜„๐—ผ ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€. ๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐—ถ๐—ณ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฑ, ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐™ž๐™˜๐™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™จ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ฏ๐™š๐™ฃ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐˜„๐—ผ ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ. ๐—œ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฎ.
(๐™‚๐™ค๐™จ๐™๐™ค, ๐™ฅ. 536)
Thus, the Daishonin explains that the theoretical teaching does not reveal true or actual (๐˜ซ๐˜ช) ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ป๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ. This is because ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ป๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ revealed in the theoretical teaching is based on the true entity of all phenomena expounded by a provisional Buddha. Thus, this teaching lacked concrete substance and existed in name only. Furthemore, because the persons of the two vehicles, for whom Shakyamuni prophesied the attainment of Buddhahood, believed that Shakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment for the first time in India and did not know of the true cause and true effect of the Buddhaโ€™s original enlightenment in the inconceivably remote past, they still possessed the illusion of thought (๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ) and the illusion of desire (๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ), thus unable to overcome the illusion of fundamental darkness (๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ). When one considers these various points, the flaws of ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ป๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ revealed in the theoretical teaching become clear.

With regards to the essential teaching, the Daishonin states in ๐˜’๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ-๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ,
๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐˜๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐˜†๐—ฎ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—•๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฑ, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฑ. ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฑ, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฑ. ๐—ง๐—ต๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ง๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ช๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—น๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐˜๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ง๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ช๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—น๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜. ๐—œ๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—น๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—•๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—•๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—น๐—ฑ๐˜€. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ง๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ช๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—น๐—ฑ๐˜€, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—น๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—บ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฎ ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ฒ.
(๐™‚๐™ค๐™จ๐™๐™ค, ๐™ฅ. 536; ๐™ˆ๐™’-2, ๐™ฅ. 104)
The essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra reveals that Shakyamuni attained enlightenment in the inconceivably remote past (๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ-๐˜ซ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ซ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ). Therefore, when Shakyamuni reveals his enlightenment in terms of original cause, original effect, and original land, the attainment of Buddhahood by all people ceases to be a mere theory, and thus exists in concrete reality, overcoming the flaws of ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ป๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ of the theoretical teaching. Hence, this doctrine is referred to as actual (๐˜ซ๐˜ช) ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ป๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ. Thus, the superiority of the essential teaching over the theoretical teaching is clearly defined. I will note, however, that in the Latter Day of the Law, both the essential teaching and the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra are defined as theoretical ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ป๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ when compared to Myoho-Renge-Kyo hidden in the depths of the Life Span (๐˜‘๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ; sixteenth) chapter. The Daishonin states in ๐˜’๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ-๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ,
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐™ž๐™˜๐™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ฏ๐™š๐™ฃ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ต๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐™…๐™ช๐™ง๐™ฎ๐™ค ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐˜๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ.
(๐™‚๐™ค๐™จ๐™๐™ค, ๐™ฅ. 526)
Additionally, he states in ๐˜œ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ-๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ซ๐˜ช,
๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜„, ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฎ๐˜„, ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐˜๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ. ๐—ข๐—ป๐—น๐˜† ๐—ก๐—ฎ๐—บ-๐— ๐˜†๐—ผ๐—ต๐—ผ-๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ-๐—ž๐˜†๐—ผ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—•๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ.
(๐™‚๐™ค๐™จ๐™๐™ค, ๐™ฅ. 1219)
For the sake of brevity I will save discussion of this topic of sowing and harvesting for another post. But simply put, both the essential and theoretical teachings of the Lotus Sutra were preached to bestow the benefits of maturing and harvesting on those who possessed prior good causes โ€” already possessing the seed of Buddhahood. Thus, they cannot lead us common mortals in the Latter Day of the Law, who do not possess the seed of Buddhahood, to attain enlightenment. Therefore, in the age of the Latter Day of the Law, we must define Myoho-Renge-Kyo hidden in the depths of the ๐˜‘๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ chapter as the one and only essential teaching (๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ).

I hope that it has become clear that the distinction between the essential teaching and the theoretical teaching is a great one. The Daishonin makes clear that those who are unable to distinguish between the two are like those who are unable distinguish between heaven and earth or fire and water. Thus, we can say that the followers of the ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช-๐˜ฉ๐˜ข (equality faction), who assert the oneness or equality of the essential and theoretical teachings (๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ซ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช), are likened to those who cannot distinguish between heaven and earth or water and fire.

The followers of such lineages try to defend their position by sometimes claiming that the essential teaching or theoretical teaching are one in the Buddhaโ€™s intent, that the Daishonin lectured on passages from both halves of the Lotus Sutra, or even that the debate is completely unnecessary to oneโ€™s practice. I would like to note, however, that the Daishonin specifically stated that the difference between the essential and theoretical teachings is ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ than the difference between the provisional and true teachings. Letโ€™s consider the logic of this. Would the Daishonin have accepted the view of one of his disciples if they asserted that the Lotus and ๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช Sutras were equal? The answer would clearly be no as the Daishonin staunchly refuted those in the Tendai school who made such assertions. Thus, if the difference between the essential and theoretical teachings are even greater than the difference between the provisional and true teachings, asserting the equality between the two would be even more unacceptable than asserting the equality between the Lotus Sutra and the ๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช Sutra or the Lotus Sutra and the ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ข Sutra. The Great Teacher Dengyo wrote in his ๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ, โ€œEven though he praises the Lotus Sutra, he destroys its heart.โ€ While those who assert the oneness of the essential and theoretical teachings may appear to uphold and praise Nichiren Daishoninโ€™s Buddhism, they are in reality destroying its very heart. Thus, we must rebuke the heretical teachings of schools such as the ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ด๐˜ถ, Minobu, and ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข lineages (๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ณ๐˜บ๐˜ถ), who uphold the position of ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ซ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ถ ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช, and strive to correct their erroneous views so they can clear their illusions and attain the great benefit of attaining enlightenment in this lifetime and in their present form. This must be done from the standpoint of true compassion.

๐™…๐™ค๐™๐™ฃ ๐˜ผ๐™ง๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™™๐™š๐™ก
๐๐š๐ฆ-๐Œ๐ฒ๐จ๐ก๐จ-๐‘๐ž๐ง๐ ๐ž-๐Š๐ฒ๐จ
"The five characters of Myoho-Renge-Kyo are the core of the Lotus Sutra and the origin of all Buddhas throughout the entire world. Upon seeing the signs that these five characters now must be propagated, I, Nichiren, have set the precedent, today, at the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law."

- Nichiren Daishonin, โ€œShuju onfurumai-goshoโ€ ็จฎ็จฎๅพกๆŒฏ่ˆžๅพกๆ›ธ


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