Heritage of the Law #9

Here are some comments on Installment 9 of President Ikeda's lecture series on the gosho "The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life".

"Nichiren has been trying to awaken all the people of Japan to faith in the Lotus Sutra so that they too can share the heritage and attain Buddhahood." (WND-1, 217)

This passage, says President Ikeda, expresses the fundamental spirit of the Buddha of the Latter Day. The Lotus Sutra is permeated by the Buddha's great vow to enable all people to attain Buddhahood.

The true heritage of faith is open to all people. This is the most crucial point. When it is correctly understood Buddhism can serve as a humanistic and universal religion. Nichiren made a great vow to

"But instead they have persecuted me in various ways and finally had me banished to this island. You have followed Nichiren, however, and met with suffering as a result." (WND-1, 217)

The sutra states that if one propagates the correct teaching in the evil age of the Latter Day, one is certain to encounter great persecution. Although persecuted unendingly, Nichiren, undaunted, confronted all obstacles head-on and triumphed over them.

"It pains me deeply to think of your anguish. Gold can be neither burned by fire nor corroded or swept away by water, but iron is vulnerable to both. A worthy person is like gold, a fool like iron. You are like pure gold because you embrace the “gold” of the Lotus Sutra." (WND-1, 217)

In praising Sairen-bo, Nichiren teaches us that the heritage flows in the lives of those who practice in the same spirit as the mentor. A person of pure gold is another name for a person of selfless dedication to the Law.

"The sutra states, “Just as among all the mountains, Mount Sumeru is foremost, so this Lotus Sutra is likewise.”¹¹ It also states, “The good fortune you gain thereby . . . cannot be burned by fire or washed away by water.” (WND-1, 217)

It's perfectly clear. No explanation needed.

"It must be ties of karma from the distant past that have destined you to become my disciple at a time like this. Shakyamuni and Many Treasures certainly realized this truth. The sutra’s statement, “Those persons who had heard the Law dwelled here and there in various Buddha lands, constantly reborn in company with their teachers,” cannot be false in any way." (WND-1, 217)

So, Shakyamuni and his disciples have been reborn again and again since the infimite past to practice as bodisattvas, This mentor-disciple relationship is eternal and deeply profound. This relationship is the vital spirit of the Soka Gakkai. If it lives on, our movement will continue to develop.

Shakyamuni, based on his awakening to the Law, strove to enable his disciples to achieve their highest potential. The disciples, their awarenes being clouded by fundamental darkness, could not percive the Law on their own. The Law was conveyed to them by coming into contact with the Buddha's charecter and by hearing his words of instruction. But what happens after the Buddha passwes away? The "Life Span" chapter says that, even after his passing, Shakyamuni will appear where there are practitioners striving in faith.