and that the transmission of this Law is made from the Buddha to all living beings. Then he refers to the question of how we can inherit the ultimate Law of life and manifest it within ourselves.
This Law flows in the depths of the lives of those who believe in the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, practice in exact accord with them, and chant the daimoku. The Daishonin declares that there is no distinction whatsoever between Shakyamuni Buddha, the Lotus Sutra, and us, ordinary people.
Viewed from the standpoint of the Daishonin’s Buddhism, this can be taken as a declaration that there is absolutely no difference or separation between Nichiren Daishonin as the Buddha of the Latter Day, the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—or the Gohonzon which embodies that Law— and ourselves, who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
In terms of time, the heritage—the mystic relationship between the Law and the lives of the people—courses eternally through past, present, and
future, unbroken in any lifetime. In terms of space, the Daishonin proclaims that the heritage of the ultimate Law flows within the lives of his disciples and lay supporters who work in perfect unity for the realization of a peaceful world and happiness for all humanity.
Having stated that the ultimate Law is within the lives of human beings, Nichiren Daishonin further explains how to inherit the Law. He emphasizes the importance of the attitude, “now is the last moment . . . ,” in or der to manifest innate Buddhahood, a state that transcends both life and death.
In discussing the thousand Buddhas and the ten kings of hell, he reveals the continuity of cause and effect spanning past, present, and future. Whatever state of life predominates while one is alive will continue in the next life. Whether one can succeed to the heritage of the Law depends entirely on one’s faith. This is why he strictly warns in his conclusion, “Even embracing the Lotus Sutra would be useless without the heritage of faith.”
1. The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra.
2. The Essential Doctrines Transmitted within the Tendai Lotus School.
3. Yin and yang are two universal principles of ancient Chinese philosophy. Yin is the negative, dark, and feminine principle; yang is the positive, bright, and masculine principle. Their interaction was thought to determine the destiny of all things.
4. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. In the thirteenth century the more distant planets were as yet unknown, and Earth was not known to be among the planets.
5. Lotus Sutra, chap. 28.
6. Ibid., chap. 3.
7. Symbolic figures from popular religious tradition. One Chinese concept
viewed hell as a demonic court of law where the dead were tried for their evil deeds.
8. Gods said to dwell on one’s shoulders from the time of birth and to record one’s every act. They represent the law of cause and effect at work in one’s life.
9. Lotus Sutra, chap. 3.
10. The phrase “transcending all differences among themselves” could be rendered literally as “without any thought of self or other, this or that.” This is not a denial of individuality, but rather urges the bridging of the gaps between people that arise from self-centeredness.
11. Lotus Sutra, chap. 23.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid., chap. 7.
