Q UESTION: In Japan, there are the six schools, the seven schools, and the eight schools. Among these, which school teaches the attainment of Buddhahood in one’s present form?
Answer: According to the Great Teacher Dengyo, this doctrine is found only in the Lotus Sutra, while according to the Great Teacher Kobo, it is found only in the True Word teachings.
Question: What proof can you show to support this?
Answer: The Great Teacher Dengyo states in his Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sutra: “You should understand that, among the sutras that the other schools rely upon, there are none that teach the doctrine of entering [Buddhahood] in one’s present form. Although a few of them appear to teach this doctrine, they limit such attainment to those who have reached the eighth of the ten stages of development or higher. They do not acknowledge [the attainment of Buddhahood in] the form of an ordinary person. Only the Tendai Lotus school clearly teaches this doctrine of entering [Buddhahood] in one’s present form.”
Outstanding Principles also declares, “Neither teacher nor disciples need undergo countless kalpas of austere practice in order to attain Buddhahood.
Through the power of the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law they can do so in their present form.”
It also says, “You should understand that this passage1 is inquiring whether there are any persons who have attained Buddhahood, and so intends to manifest the great power and authority of this sutra.”
The purpose of these passages of commentary is to clarify that the attainment of Buddhahood in one’s present form is limited to the Lotus Sutra alone.
Question: What evidence can you show that would indicate the opinion of the Great Teacher Kobo?
Answer: In his Comparison of Exoteric and Esoteric Buddhism, the Great Teacher Kobo states, “The Treatise on the Mind Aspiring for Enlightenment says: ‘Only in the True Word teachings can one attain Buddhahood in one’s present form, because these teachings expound the practice of samadhi meditation. No such exposition is to be found in the other types of teachings.’ I would like to point out that this treatise represents the secret storehouse, the heart and core, of all the thousand treatises written by the great sage Nagarjuna. In the passage just quoted, the phrase ‘other types of teachings’ refers to the various doctrines expounded by the body of beneficence and by the
