Chinese translations of the Lotus Sutra, done by Dharmaraksha in 286 and by Jnanagupta and Dharmagupta in 601, respectively. The Lotus Meditation Sutra has been lost. The Saddharmapundarika Sutra here does not indicate the Sanskrit text but a Chinese translation. This version has also been lost.
11. The “Encouraging Devotion” chapter describes how the eight hundred thousand million nayutas of bodhisattvas vow to teach the sutra far and wide in an age of fear and evil after the Buddha’s passing. They express their determination to meet the various persecutions that will result from their propagation. The practice of shakubuku is what calls forth such persecution and is what the Daishonin is referring to here. In contrast, the “Peaceful Practices” chapter details the four peaceful means of practice, by peaceful deeds, words, thoughts, and vows.
12. In contrast to “the observation of the mind,” or the perception through meditation of the ultimate reality inherent in one’s life. This, along with the doctrinal study of the sutras, is one of the two integral aspects of practice taught in the Tendai school. The Daishonin gives emphasis to the meditational aspect (the invocation of the daimoku), but expresses here that he is criticized for not doing so. This was because he also emphasized scriptural comparison to establish the superiority of the Lotus Sutra.
13. Pien Ho was a native of the state of Ch’u in China during the Spring and Autumn period (770–403 B.C.E.). According to Han Fei Tzu, Pien Ho found a precious stone at Mount Ch’u and presented it to King Li. When the king had it appraised, it was identified as a mere stone. So the king had Pien Ho’s left leg cut off at the knee. After the king’s death, Pien Ho again presented the precious stone, this time to King Wu, only to have his right leg cut off at the knee on a second charge of deception. Later, after King Wen had ascended the throne, Pien Ho wept for three days at the foot of Mount Ch’u, holding the precious stone and shedding tears of blood at the kings’ ignorance. Hearing of this, King Wen asked for Pien Ho’s stone and had it polished. It was then recognized as being genuine and, in consequence, is said to
have been widely treasured by the populace.
14. Kiyomaro is Wake no Kiyomaro (733–799). A high-ranking court official who thwarted the attempts of the priest Dokyo, Empress Shotoku’s favorite, to ascend the throne and was persecuted as a result. After the death of the empress, however, Dokyo was stripped of power, and Kiyomaro was pardoned from his sentence of exile and recalled to service at court.
15. This statement derives from a passage in the “Expedient Means” chapter of the Lotus Sutra, which reads: “Following the same fashion that the Buddhas of the three existences employ in preaching the Law, I now will do likewise, preaching a Law that is without distinctions.” The five categories of Buddhas—all Buddhas in general, past Buddhas, present Buddhas, future Buddhas, and Shakyamuni Buddha —invariably follow the same method of preaching, first expounding various provisional teachings over a relatively long period to lead people to the one Buddha vehicle, or the Lotus Sutra, which they reveal later.
16. The “Never Disparaging” chapter describes the practices of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging, who lived in the Middle Day of the Law of the Buddha Awesome Sound King, persevered in the face of persecution for the sake of the correct teaching, and finally attained Buddhahood.
17. The revelation section is one of the three divisions of a sutra—preparation, revelation, and transmission—used in interpreting the Buddhist teachings. Here the Daishonin applies these divisions solely to the theoretical teaching (former half) of the Lotus Sutra. From this viewpoint, preparation consists of the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra and the “Introduction” chapter; revelation, the “Expedient Means” through “Prophecies” chapters; and transmission, the “Teacher of the Law” through “Peaceful Practices” chapters.
18. The three pronouncements are exhortations by Shakyamuni, three times urging the assembly before him to propagate the Lotus Sutra after his passing.
19. After the Tatsunokuchi Persecution, five of the Daishonin’s disciples, including Nichiro, were confined in a dungeon.
