T2689 Kaimokushō or Liberation from Blindness

Chapter II

Am I Not the Practitioner of

the Saddharmapundarlka-sutral

Why Am I Persecuted?

Now I reflect on myself. I was born poor and mean in a remote country more than two hundred years after the beginning of the Age of Degeneration. When I was transmigrating from one to another of the six regions in my previous existences, I might have been a great king, who ruled the people just as a high wind sways the twigs of small trees, but I could not become a Buddha; or I might have been a bodhisattva who performed the bodhisattva practices through all the stages of ractice, starting with the lowest stage of under-saintship, then the higher stage of undersaintship for a kalpa, two kalpas, and up to innumerable kalpas according to the regulations stipulated in the Mahayana and Hinayana sutras, and approached the final stage of irrevocability, but I could not become a Buddha, hindered by obstinate obstacles. Or was I excluded from the third kind of living beings whom Mahabhijnajnanabhibhu Tathagata assured of their attainment of Buddhahood in or after the lifetime of Sakyamuni Buddha? Or does my indolence bar me from becoming a Buddha even though I was given the seed of Buddhahood by Sakyamuni Buddha five hundred thousand billion nayuta asamkhya kalpas ago? Because I am practicing the Saddharmapundarika-sutra, evil people, the government, heretics, and adherents of he Hinayana sutras have persecuted me. I have endured all this.

41

215c

Those who followed Tao-ch'o (Doshaku), Shan-tao (Zendo), and Honen are now in the evil regions. Tao-ch'o, Shan-tao, and Honen seem to have thoroughly studied both the True Mahayana sutras and the Provisional Mahayana sutras, but they were possessed by devils. They enhanced the Saddharmapundarlka-sutra but deprecated people, saying:

The Saddharmapundarlka-sutra is too profound for people to understand— No one has yet attained Buddhahood by means of the Saddharmapundarlka-sutra. Not one among one thousand people.

People had been told so innumerable times throughout their innumerable previous existences. Therefore, they followed those priests and believed the Provisional Mahayana sutras. In the course of time, they backslid from the Provisional Mahayana sutras to the Hinayana sutras, then to Brahmanism and Confucianism. At last they fell into the evil regions.

I know this. In Japan, only I know this. But if I say this, my parents, brothers, and masters will be persecuted by the government. If I do not say this, it seems that I have no compassion toward others. What shall I do?

In order to decide, I consulted the Saddharmapundarlka-sutra and the Mahdparinirvdna-sutra, and found that if I do not say this, I may be peaceful in my present life but I shall fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering in my next life, and that if I do, I shall definitely have to suffer the three obstacles and meet the four devils. My decision was, "I must say this, I must not keep silent. It is better not to start saying this than to stop saying this halfway for fear that I shall be persecuted by the government and others. " When I was thinking this, I was reminded of he six difficulties and the nine easinesses expounded in the "Chapter on Beholding the Stupa of Treasures" in the Saddharmapundarlka-sutra. According to this chapter, we may be able to hurl Mount Sumeru even though we are weak. We may be able to shoulder a load of ay and stay unburned in the fire at the end of the kalpa of destruction 42

Chapter II

even though we have no supernatural powers. We may be able to read and memorize as many sutras as there are sands in the Ganges River even though we have no wisdom. But it is very difficult for us to keep even a phrase or a gatha of the Saddharmapundarikasutra during this Age of Degeneration. I believe that all this is meant by the chapter. From my determined aspiration for enlightenment, I have made a vow never to retreat from the propagation of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra.

For the past twenty-odd years, I have been propagating the teachings of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra. Persecutions have ensued day after day, month after month, year after year. Small troubles were numerous. Big ones were four. Two of them I do not relate here. The other two were caused by the government. This time it was almost fatal to me. Furthermore, my disciples and lay followers, and also the people who happened to come to hear me, were severely punished like traitors.

The Buddha says in Volume IV of the Saddharmapundarikasutra, "Many people hate this sutra with jealousy even in my lifetime. Needless to say, more people will do so after my extinction. He says in Volume II of the sutra:

Some will despise the person who reads, recites, copies, or keeps this sutra. They will hate him, look at him with jealousy, and harbor enmity against him.

He says in Volume VI of the sutra:

I did not expound this sutra before because, if I had done so, many people in the world would have hated this sutra and few would have believed it.

The bodhisattvas say in the same volume of the sutra: Ignorant people will speak ill of us, and abuse us.... They will say to kings, ministers, brahmans, and householders, "They have wrong views. They are expounding the teachings of heretics...." They will drive us out of our monasteries from time to time.

216a

43

It says in Volume VII of the sutra, "The people struck Never Despising Bodhisattva with a stick, a piece of wood, a piece of tile, and a stone."

It says in the Mahaparinirvana-sutra:

Thereupon many brahmans came together to King Ajatasatru of Magadha, and said, "Here is a very evil man. His name is Gautama Sramana. All the evil men in the world went to him and followed him only for gain. They do not do any good. They subjugated Kasyapa, Sariputra, Maudgalyayana, and others by their supernatural powers. " T'ien-t'ai says, "Needless to say, more people will hate this sutra after the extinction of the Buddha. It will be more difficult to save them. "

Miao-le says:

Hatred against the keeper of the right teachings of the Buddha is held by those who have not yet eliminated illusions. Jealousy of him is roused by those who are not joyful of hearing him.

T'ien-t'ai was treated as an enemy by the leaders of the three sects in South China and the seven sects in North China, and also by all the other scholars of China.

Tokuichi says:

Poor Chih-i! Whose disciple are you? With your tongue shorter than three inches, you slander the Dharma expounded by the Buddha with his broad and long tongue. Chih-tu (Chido) of Tung-ch'in (Tojun) says: Question: Many people hated this sutra with jealousy even in the lifetime of the Buddha. Those who propagate this sutra after the extinction of the Buddha will have to face many difficulties. Why?

Answer: The proverb says that a good medicine tastes bitter. This sutra eliminates the differences between the five 44

Chapter II

kinds of living beings, and establishes the teaching of the One Vehicle. Therefore, this sutra criticizes not only laymen but also priests [who think that they are different from laymen]. It rejects not only the Hinayana but also the Mahayana [which is regarded as entirely different from the Hinayana]. It calls gods and maras "vermin" and brahmans "devils." It says that adherents of the Hinayana are base and mean and that the bodhisattvas are just beginners in the Way of the Buddha. Therefore, gods and maras hate to listen to this sutra. Brahmans cover their ears, adherents of the two vehicles are frightened, and bodhisattvas become timid All these people persecute the propagator of this sutra. This sutra's statement that more people will hate this sutra with jealousy after the extinction of the Buddha is quite true.

Dengyo says in his Kenkairon:

The representatives of the priests of the six Nara Sects said to the emperor, "There was once a sophisticated brahman in India. Now here is a quibbling baldheaded man. Possessed by devils, he deceives people."

I said to the emperor, "Once in the Period of Ch'i (Sei), Kuang-t'ung (Koto) attempted to kill Bodhidharma. Now the priests of the six Nara sects speak ill of e. " The Buddha was right in saying, "Needless to say, more people will hate this sutra with jealousy after my extinction." Dengyo also says in his Hokke-shuku:

I am living toward the end of the Age of the Counterfeit of the Right Teachings of the Buddha. The Age of Degeneration is coming. The country where I live is east of 'ang (To) and west of Chieh (Katsu). The people of this country have five defilements. It is the Age of Conflicts. The Buddha was right in saying, "Many people hate this sutra with jealousy even in my lifetime. Needless to say, more people will do so after my extinction. "

216b

45

Father and mother will be hated by their child when they cauterize its skin with moxa to cure its disease. A man who is seriously ill is not willing to take good but bitter medicine. Many people hated this sutra with jealousy even in the lifetime of the Buddha. More people did so in the Age of he Counterfeit of he Right Teachings of the Buddha. Many more people will do so in this Age of Degeneration in a country far from India. There will be mountain after mountain, billow after billow, difficulty after difficulty, injustice after injustice in my way.

In the middle of he Age of he Counterfeit of he Right Teachings of he Buddha, only T'ien-t'ai read the Saddharmapundarlkasutra and all the other sutras correctly. The leaders of the three sects in South China and the seven sects in North China criticized him, but were silenced during the debates that took place before the emperors of the Ch'en and Sui dynasties. Toward the end of the Age of the Counterfeit of the Right Teachings of the Buddha, only Dengyo read the Saddharmapundarika-sutra and all the other sutras correctly. The priests of the seven great temples of Nara criticized him, but were silenced when Emperors Kammu, Heizei, and Saga decided that Dengyo was right. Now more than two hundred years have already elapsed since the beginning of the Age of Degeneration. Because the Buddha said, Needless to say... after my extinction" and because it is already the Age of Conflicts, injustice is preferred in order to mark the defilement of the world. I was not permitted to have a public debate, but was exiled and was about to be killed. I am far from T'ien-t'ai and Dengyo in understanding the Saddharmapundarika-sutra, but they would be astonished to find that I am far more patient of hardships and far more compassionate toward others than they.

Why Do the Gods Not Protect Me?

I expected that the gods would protect me, but they have not yet done so. My hardships are increasing all the more. I want to learn 46

Chapter II

from all this. Am I not the practitioner of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra? Have the gods left this country? I am very doubtful of this.

If had not been born in this country, the verses in the "Chapter on Encouragement of Keeping the Sutra" in Volume V of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra would have turned into dead letters, the Buddha who expounded this sutra would have become a great liar, and the eighty billion nayutas of odhisattvas who sang these verses would have been charged with falsehood like Devadatta. For the verses read, "Ignorant people will speak ill of us, abuse us, and threaten us with swords, sticks, tiles, or stones." Who else was spoken ill of, abused, and threatened with swords or sticks for the cause of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra in this age than I? Without me, the prophecy of this verse would become a lie. The verses also run:

Some hhiksus in the evil world will be cunning. They will be ready to flatter others.... They will expound the Dharma to men of white robes. They will be respected by the people of the world as arhats who have the six supernatural powers. This means that without the priests of he Nembutsu, Zen, and Ritsu Sects of today, the World-honored One would become a great liar. It says in the verses, "In order to... slander us in the midst of the great multitude... they will say to kings, ministers, brahmans, and householders...." Unless the priests of today slandered me before the government and had me exiled, these verses would become dead letters.

It also says in the verses, "They will... drive us out of our monasteries from time to time." Unless I had been exiled more than once, where would be the truthfulness of the statement from time to time"? Even T'ien-t'ai or Dengyo did not "read by body" [experience] the statement "from time to time. Needless to say, no one else did so. Only I did so because I am living at the beginning of the Age of Degeneration in the dreadful evil world that the Buddha predicted.

47

2i7a All the Buddha's prophecies have turned out true so far. The Buddha said in theFuhozo-kyo (Fu-fa-ts'ang-ching), "A great king named Asoka will appear one hundred years after my extinction. " He said in the Mahamaya-sutra, "A man named Nagarjuna Bodhisattva will appear in South India six hundred years after my extinction. " He also said in the Mahakaruna-sutra, "A man named Madhyantika will transform the sea that covers the palace of dragons into land sixty years after my extinction. " All these prophecies turned out true. If not, who would believe the teachings of the Buddha?

The Buddha said that the practitioner of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra will face enemies "in the dreadful evil world," in "the Age of Degeneration when the Dharma is about to be destroyed, or in "the last five hundred years." This determination of the time is invariably given in both of the Chinese versions of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra: the Myohorenge-kyo (Miao-falien-hua-ching) and the Shohoke-kyo (Cheng-fa-hua-ching). Who will believe and receive the words of the Buddha if we have not the three kinds of enemies of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra today? Who is the practitioner of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra to prove the truthfulness of the words of the Buddha except me? The priests of the three sects in South China and the seven sects in North China and the priests of the seven great temples of Nara were enemies of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra in the Age of the Counterfeit of he Right Teachings of the Buddha. Needless to say, the priests of the Zen, Ritsu, and Nembutsu Sects of today cannot be excluded from these enemies. What I have done is consistent with the prophecy of he Buddha given in the sutra. I shall be happier if I am persecuted more.

A Hinayana bodhisattva, who had not yet eliminated all illusions, did evil karmas by his own will." He saw his parents suffering severely in hell. Wishing to save them, he did evil karmas by his own will, went to hell, and gladly suffered together with his parents. I am like him. My suffering at present is unbearable, but I am glad to say that due to my present sufferings I shall be able to emancipate myself from the evil regions in my future life. 48

Chapter II

The only thing that the people of the world doubt, and I also doubt, is: Why do the gods not help me? The gods vowed to protect the practitioner of the Saddharmapundarlka-sutra. They should immediately come and protect anyone who calls himself a practitioner of the Saddharmapundarlka-sutra in order to fulfill their vow, even if that self-appointed practitioner of the Saddharmapundarlka-sutra is as foolish as a monkey. They do not. Am I not the practitioner of the Saddharmapundarlka-sutra? This question is the core of this writing and the most important thing of my life. Therefore, I will deal with this question from various angles in order to emphasize its importance, and then determine the correct answer to this question.

Chi-cha (Kisatsu) left home on official business. On the way to his destination, he was warmly treated by the lord of the country of Hsu (Jo). The lord wished to have the sword of Chi-cha, but did not express his wish. Chi-cha read the mind of the lord, and decided to give it to him on his way home to repay his hospitality. When he revisited Hsu, the lord was already dead. Chi-cha visited the tomb of he lord and offered his sword to the tombstone. Wangyin (O-in) drank the water of a river, and put a coin into the river as a token of his gratitude to the river. Kung-yin, who failed to save his lord, killed himself by cutting open his abdomen, pulling the liver from his lord's body, and thrusting it into his own body. All these people were wise men. I think that they did so in order to repay the favors given by others.

Why Do the Srdvakas Not Protect Me?

Needless to say, Sariputra, Kasyapa, and other srdvakas observed the two hundred fifty precepts and the three thousand deportments without fail. They eliminated illusions caused by false judgment and evil desire. They were great saints. They released themselves from the triple world. They were the teachers of Brahma, Sakra, and other gods, and the eyes of all living beings. Although they were condemned as persons disqualified from ever becoming Buddhas in the sutras expounded during the first 49

forty and more years, they were given the elixir of life made from the Saddharmapundarika-sutra and are now allowed to become Buddhas, just as a parched seed brings forth a bud, as a broken stone recovers its original form, or as a dead tree bears flowers and fruit. Although they have not yet completed the procedure to attain Buddhahood through eight stages, they should repay the great favors given by this sutra. If they do not, they will be nothing but animals because animals do not know the favors given by others. If they do not, those sravakas will be inferior to the Chinese sages mentioned previously. Mao-pao (Mo-ho) traded a fisherman his robe for a turtle and released the turtle into the sea. Mao-pao was defeated in battle, and he plunged into the sea. The turtle that had been saved by him came and rescued him. The turtle had not forgotten his favor. A big fish in the pond of K'unmmg (Kommei) was released by Emperor Wu-ti of the Han dynasty. The fish presented him with a brilliant gem at night. Even those animals repayed the favors given by others. Needless to say, the great saints should do so.

Venerable Ananda was the second son of King Dronodana. Venerable Rahula was a grandson of King Suddhodana. They were born of oyal families and attained arhatship. But they were prohibited from becoming Buddhas before the Saddharmapundarika-sutra was expounded. In the Saddharmapundarikasutra, they were for the first time given the names of Tathagatas, Sagaravaradharabuddhivikrlditabhijna and Saptaratnapadmavikrantagamin, respectively, during the session on Mount Sacred Eagle. The session was held during the last eight years of the teaching of the Buddha. Without the Saddharmapundarikasutra, no one will respect a person deprived of Buddhahood even though he is a noble and great saint. [A sravaka without Buddhahood is like a king without virtue.] A king deserves the name insofar as he can be relied on by the people. King Chieh (Ketsu) of the Hsia (Ka) dynasty and King Chou of the Yin dynasty misruled the people and destroyed their own countries. Therefore, even today evil persons are called "Chieh-Chou." Even an ignoble man or 50

Chapter II

a leper will get angry when he is called "Chieh-Chou, thinking that he is spoken ill of.

The twelve hundred sravakas were for the first time assured of their Buddhahood in the Saddharmapundarlka-sutra. So were the other innumerable sravakas. Without the Saddharmapundarika-sutra, no one would be glad to hear the names of these sravakas who were deprived of Buddhahood. One thousand sravakas compiled the Tripitaka. No one would read the Tripitaka compiled by people without Buddhahood. No one would make their pictures or images for worship.

I think that arhats are worshiped only because they were assured of Buddhahood in the Saddharmapundarika-sutra. Without the Saddharmapundarika-sutra, sravakas would be as powerless as a fish taken out of water, as a monkey without trees, as a babe without milk, or as a subject without a king. Therefore, they should protect the practitioner of he Saddharmapundarikasutra. The sravakas obtained heavenly eyes and the eyes of wisdom, in addition to their natural eyes, by hearing the sutras expounded before the Saddharmapundarika-sutra, and the eyes of the Dharma and the eyes of the Buddha by hearing the Saddharmapundarika-sutra. They can see the worlds of the ten quarters.

Needless to say, they can see the practitioner of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra in this Saha world. Even if I am an evil man, and abuse the sravakas, threaten them with a sword or a stick, or speak ill of them, not in merely a word or two but in many words for a year or two, for a kalpa or two kalpas or a hundred thousand billion kalpas, they should not desert me insofar as I am the practitioner of he Saddharmapundarika-sutra. Father and mother will not abandon their child even when it abuses them. A mother owl brings up her owlet although she knows that it will eat her when it grows up. A father hakyo, a wild animal, takes care of is young although he knows that it will kill him when it becomes an adult. Even animals love and protect their offspring although their offspring are their future enemies. Needless to say, it cannot be 217c

51

that great saints like the sravakas desert the practitioner of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra.

When the four great sravakas understood the Dharma, they addressed the Buddha:

We are sravakas in the true sense of he word. We will cause all living beings to hear the voice telling of the enlightenment of the Buddha. We are arhats in the true sense of the word. All gods, men, maras, and Brahmas in the worlds should make offerings to us. You, the World-honored One, are the great benefactor. By doing this rare thing, you taught and benefited us out of your compassion toward us. No one will be able to repay your favors even if he tries to do so for many hundreds of millions of kalpas. No one will be able to repay your favors even if he bows to you respectfully and offers you his hands, feet, or anything else. No one will be able to repay your favors even if he carries you on his head or shoulders and respects you from the bottom of his heart for as many kalpas as there are sands in the Ganges River, or even if he offers you delicious food, innumerable treasured garments, much bedding, and various medicines, or even if he erects a stupa-mausoleum made of the cow-head candana and adorns it with treasures, or even if he covers the ground with treasured garments and offers them to the Buddha for as many kalpas as there are sands in the Ganges River.

The sravakas were criticized in the earlier sutras. These sutras can be compared to the first four of the five tastes. The sravakas were blamed in the presence of a great multitude of gods and men innumerable times. The cry of Venerable Kasyapa reverberated over one thousand million Sumeru worlds. The stunned Venerable Subhuti dropped his alms bowl. Sariputra vomited all he had eaten [when he heard that he did not deserve offerings]. Purna was contemptuously likened to feces in a beautiful vase. In the Agama sutras expounded by the Buddha at the Deer Park, the World-honored One enthusiastically praised the sravakas 52

Chapter II

for observing the two hundred fifty precepts, and told the multitude to respect them as their teachers. But now he denied what he had expounded in the Agama sutras. This is apparently contradictory. The World-honored One also contradicted himself in another case. He abused Devadatta, saying, "You are a fool. You eat the spit of someone else." Hearing this, Devadatta felt as if he had been shot in the chest with a poisonous arrow. He reproached the Buddha, saying to others:

Gautama is not the Buddha. I am the eldest son of King Dronodana, the eldest brother of Venerable Ananda, and a member of the Gautama family. He should advise me personally if I am wrong. Now he says such a bad thing before this great multitude of gods and men. Can we call him the Great Man or the Buddha? He was once the enemy of my wife. Now he is the enemy of this congregation. From now I will be his great enemy.

Some of the great sravakas were born into the families of brahmans or rich men. Therefore, they were patronized by kings and respected by laymen. Some of hem were born into noble families or were rich themselves. But once they followed the Buddha, they abandoned worldly fame, leveled the banner of arrogance, took off lay garments, wore robes of cast-off rags, threw away insect-sweepers of hite hair and bows and arrows, and carried alms bowls like poor men or beggars. They had no houses to protect them from wind and rain. They had little food and clothing. On the other hand, almost all the people of the world were disciples or lay supporters of brahmans. Therefore, even the Buddha was persecuted nine times. When the Buddha was passing the foot of Mount Grdhrakuta, Devadatta rolled a big stone down the slope at him King Ajatasatru turned an intoxicated elephant on the Buddha. King Ajita invited the Buddha and his disciples but did not offer them food, so they had to live on horses' oats for ninety days. In a city of brahmans, the Buddha and his disciples could get no food other than garbage. Cinca, the daughter of a brahman, 53

218b

218c

carried a tray under her garment and defamed the Buddha, saying that she was pregnant by him. Needless to say, the disciples of the Buddha were persecuted more. Many members of the Sakya clan were killed by King Virudhaka. Many of their attendants were trampled to death by intoxicated elephants. Utpalavarna Bhiksuni was killed by Devadatta. Venerable Kalodayin was put into a receptacle of horse dung. Venerable Maudgalyayana was beaten to death with bamboo sticks.

Furthermore, the priests of the six Brahmanical sects came together to King Ajatasatru and King Prasenajit and slandered the Buddha, saying:

Gautama is the worst man in the Jambudvipa. Wherever he comes, the three calamities and the seven difficulties occur. Just as the ocean swallows the waters of all rivers, or as a big mountain brings up all kinds of trees, Gautama collects many evil men such as Kasyapa, Sariputra, Maudgalyayana, and Subhuti. One should be dutiful to his parents and loyal to his lord. The disciples of the Buddha are instigated by the Buddha. They do not follow the teachings of heir parents. They renounce their families, violate the law promulgated by kings, and seclude themselves in mountains and forests. They should not remain in this country. Because they are here, the sun, the moon, and the stars become disordered, and many calamities take place on the earth. This abuse was quite unbearable to the sravakas. But the Buddha also abused them as stated previously. The Buddha often criticized the sravakas in the presence of reat multitudes of gods and men. The sravakas were quite at a loss as to what to do. Furthermore, what troubled the sravakas most was that the Buddha said to Subhuti in the Vimalakirtinirdesa-sutra, "Those who give alms to you cannot be called fields of merit. Those who make offerings to you will fall into the three evil regions." I will explain this in more detail. When the Buddha was at Amravana, he said to a great multitude including Brahma, Sakra, the sun god, the moon god, the gods of the four quarters, the gods 54

Chapter II

of the triple world, the gods of the earth, dragons, and others, "The gods and men who make offerings to Subhuti and other bhiksus will fall into the three evil regions." Do you think that the gods and men who heard this made offerings to these sravakas? It appears that the Buddha intended to starve adherents of the two vehicles to death. Some people may lose faith in the Buddha when they hear this. Adherents of the two vehicles may have been able to survive on the leftovers of food offered to the Buddha. Therefore, I have arrived at the following conclusion. If the Buddha had expounded only the sutras of the first forty and more years, and entered into parinirvana without expounding the Saddharmapundarika-sutra during his last eight years, no one would make offerings to these venerables. These venerables might be living now in the region of hungry spirits [if they had not been saved by the Saddharmapundarika-sutra]. The Buddha said in the Muryogi-kyo, "I have never revealed my true teaching during the past forty and more years," and denied the truthfulness of the sutras expounded previously, just as the spring sun melts away ice, or as a strong wind blows off the dew on the grass. He also says, "I will expound my true teaching only after a long period of expounding expedient teachings," which is as clear as a gale bringing forth black clouds, as the full moon shining in the sky, or as the sun shining in the cloudless sky. Then he assured Sariputra, Kasyapa, and others of Buddhahood, giving them Buddha names such as Padmaprabha Tathagata and Rasmiprabhasa Tathagata. All these statements of he Buddha are clearly given in the sutra just as the sun or the moon shines brightly in the sky. These statements are given in the sutra only because those sravakas are worshiped like the Buddha by the followers among gods and men, after the extinction of the Tathagata. When the water is clear, the moon is reflected in it. When a strong wind blows, grasses and trees bend themselves before it. When the practitioner of he Saddharmapundarika-sutra appears, these saints should come to him, defying any difficulty, even passing through a great fire or a great rock.

219a

55

n

[But the reality is that they have never come to protect me.] Kasyapa entered into samadhi, vowing that he would do the work of the Buddha after the extinction of the Buddha. What is he doing now? I am very doubtful of him. Is this age not the fifth period of five centuries after the extinction of the Buddha? The Buddha said that the Saddharmapundarika-sutra would be propagated in the fifth period of five centuries after his extinction. Did he tell a lie? Am I not the practitioner of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra? Does the Buddha protect the great liars who

say that their teachings have been handed down from the Buddha without resorting to written sutras, and who despise the Saddharmapundarika-sutra as one of the written sutras that do not express the true teachings of the Buddha? Does he protect those who tell people to give up, shut, desert, and abandon the Saddharmapundarika-sutra, and who have remodeled the Hokke-do Hall [into the Amida-do Hall]? The gods vowed to the Buddha that they would protect the practitioner of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra. Do they not come to protect me because they see the difficulties of this defiled world as too great to overcome? The sun and the moon are in the sky as usual. Mount Sumeru still stands unleveled. The tide rises and falls normally. The four seasons come and go regularly. Why is the practitioner of he Saddharmapundarika-sutra not protected as he should be? My doubts have become more and more serious.

Why Do the Bodhisattvas Not Protect Me?

Some great bodhisattvas, gods, and men were assured of their attainment of Buddhahood in the sutras expounded before the Saddharmapundarika-sutra, but that assurance did not materialize. It was only nominal, like a reflection of the moon in the water or like the shadow of a thing. A reflection of the moon has the form of the moon but not its substance. Therefore, the virtue of the Buddha who gave this nominal assurance was not as great as it seemed.

56

Chapter II

According to the Avatarhsaka-sutra, when the World-honored One attained enlightenment, he kept silence without expounding the Dharma. Thereupon great bodhisattvas, more than sixty in number, including Dharma Wisdom Bodhisattva, Merits Forest Bodhisattva, Vajra Banner Bodhisattva, and Vajra Store Bodhisattva, came from the worlds of the ten quarters to the Lord Teacher Sakyamuni, the World-honored One. At the request of Gentle Face Bodhisattva, Emancipation Moon Bodhisattva, and others, they expounded the teachings of the ten periods, the ten practices, the ten turns, and the ten stages. These great bodhisattvas were not the disciples of Sakyamuni, the World-honored One. Brahmas and other gods of the worlds of the ten quarters also came and expounded the Dharma. These gods were not the disciples of Sakyamuni, the World-honored One, either. All the great bodhisattvas, gods, dragons, and others, who were among the congregation of the Avatarhsaka-sutra, had already obtained inconceivable emancipation before Sakyamuni the World-honored One did. They may have been the disciples of Sakyamuni the World-honored One in his previous existence, or the disciples of the past Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters. They are not the disciples of the Buddha, the Lord Teacher, who attained enlightenment for the first time in this world.

The Buddha first obtained disciples when he expounded the four teachings [Hinayana teaching, Mahayana-cum-Hinayana teaching, Specialized Mahayana teaching, and Perfect Mahayana teaching] in the three periods: the period of the Agama sutras, the period of the Vaipulya sutras, and the period of he Prajnaparamita sutras. But these teachings were not the true teachings of the Buddha. The Specialized Mahayana teaching and the Perfect Mahayana teaching were partially expounded in the periods of the Vaipulya sutras and Prajnaparamita sutras, but these teachings were not different from those expounded in the Avatarhsaka-sutra. The Avatarhsakasutra was in reality expounded by Dharma Wisdom Bodhisattva and other great bodhisattvas, not by the Lord Teacher Sakyamuni, the World-honored One. Therefore, we can say that these great 219b

57

bodhisattvas were the teachers of the Buddha, not the disciples of the Buddha as they seemed. Hearing the teachings of these great bodhisattvas, the World-honored One was so edified that he repeated those teachings in the periods of the Vaipulya sutras and Prajnaparamita sutras. Therefore, these great bodhisattvas are teachers of Sakyamuni. In the Avatamsaka-sutra, these great bodhisattvas are called "virtuous friends. " A virtuous friend means a person who is not necessarily a teacher or a disciple. The Hinayana teaching and the Mahayana-cum-Hinayana teaching derive from the Specialized Mahayana teaching and the Perfect Mahayana teaching. Therefore, those who understand the Specialized Mahayana teaching and the Perfect Mahayana teaching can easily understand the Hinayana teaching and the Mahayana-cum-Hinayana teaching.

A teacher is someone who tells his disciples what they do not 2i9e know. In India before the time of the Buddha, men, gods, and brahmans worshiped the two gods and respected the Three Seers as their teachers. Brahmanism was divided into ninety-five sects, but their views were not developed beyond the views of the Three Seers. The Lord Teacher, the World-honored One, at first studied Brahmanism. He was first a Brahmanist. After that he practiced asceticism as well as peaceful practices for twelve years, and then attained [the four truths:] the truth that all is suffering, the truth that all things are void, the truth that nothing is permanent, and the truth that nothing has a self-nature. Thereupon he ceased to be a Brahmanist. He called himself a man who obtained wisdom without teachers. Gods and men respectfully called him Great Teacher.

For the periods corresponding to the first four of he five tastes, the Lord Teacher Sakyamuni, the World-honored One, was a disciple of Dharma Wisdom Bodhisattva and other great bodhisattvas. The tradition that a bodhisattva was the teacher of the Buddha is also seen in the case of Manjusri Bodhisattva, who is said to have been the teacher of the Buddha traced back to the ninth ancestry in the master-disciple lineage. That is why 58

Chapter II

the Buddha said in many sutras, "I did not expound the Dharma even with a single letter [without restraint]." The Buddha expounded the Muryogi-kyo on Mount Sacred Eagle in the country of Magadha at the age of seventy-two. In this sutra he mentioned the names of the most important sutras he had expounded, and then said, "I have never expounded my true teaching during the past forty and more years." Hearing this, great bodhisattvas, gods, and men were astonished. They asked the Buddha for his true teaching. The Buddha said one word but did not yet expound the Dharma. It reminds us of the moon emitting a ray of light from behind the eastern mountain to the western mountain without revealing itself to the eyes of the people.

At the beginning of the "Chapter on Expedients" in the Saddharmapundarika-sutra, the Buddha briefly expounded the teaching of one mind—three thousand, and thus for the first time he revealed what he had in his mind. The congregation was astonished to hear this, just as a half-asleep man is shocked at hearing a cuckoo chirp, or as on a fine day we see the rising moon as vaguely as if it were covered with thin clouds. Representing the gods, dragons, and great bodhisattvas, Sariputra asked the Buddha, saying:

As many gods and dragons as there are sands in the Ganges River, and the eighty thousand bodhisattvas who are seeking Buddhahood, and also the wheel-turning holy kings of billions of worlds, are joining their hands together respectfully, wishing to hear the Perfect Way.

This statement means that Sariputra wished to hear the teaching that he had never heard during the first forty and more years. The Buddha had expounded only the teachings corresponding to the first four of the five tastes, that is, only the first three of the four teachings, during the first forty-odd years. "Wishing to hear the Perfect Way" can be explained as follows. It says in the Mahaparinirvana-sutra, "Sa means 'perfect.'" It 59

says in the Muemutoku-daijoshiron-gengi-ki (Wu-i-wute-ta-ch'engssu-lun-hsiian-i-chi), "Sa means 'six.'" The number six means perfect in India. It says in Chi-tsang's (Kichizo's) commentary, "Sa means 'perfect.'" It says in T'ien-t'ai'sHokke-gengi (Fa-hua-hsuan-i), Volume VIII, "Sa is a Sanskrit word. It is translated as 'wonderful. '" Nagarjuna Bodhisattva was the thirteenth patriarch. He founded the Shingon and Kegon Sects. He was the reincarnation of Dharma Cloud Freedom King Tathagata. He was on the first of the ten stages of bodhisattvahood. He was a great saint. He wrote the Mahaprajndpdramita-sdstra compiled in a thousand volumes. He says in this writing, "Sa means 'six.'"

Myohdrenge-kyo is [the Japanese pronunciation of] the title of a Chinese version of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra. It is called Sattarumafundarikya-sotaran in India.

The mantra at the core of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra, which Subhakarasimha San-tsang found in an iron tower of outh India, is as follows:

Nomakusammandabodanan (namah samyak sambuddhanam), on, a, an, aku (om a am ah), sarubaboda (sarvabuddha), kino (jha), sakishubiya (caksurbhydm),gyagyanosanshaba (gagana samsva), arakishani (raksani), satsuridaruma fudarikya sotaran (saddharmapundarika-sutrarh),ja, un, ban, koku (ja hum ho), bazara rakishaman (vajra raksaman), un, sohaka (hum svaha).

Satsuridaruma means the "right teaching. " Satsu means "right. " "Right" is "wonderful." "Wonderful" is "right." Hence, Shohoke-^yo and Myohorenge-kyd. When namu (namas) is put before Myohorenge-kyo, it makes Namu-myohdrenge-kyd. Myd means "go-soku." "Six" implies the sixpdramitds, which cover all practices. "Wishing to hear the Perfect Way" means "wishing to perfect the six dramitds. " Gu means "to interpenetrate. " It implies the truth that the ten regions interpenetrate one another. Soku means "to satisfy." It is satisfactory when one region interpenetrates the other nine regions. This sutra is compiled in eight 60

Chapter II

volumes, has twenty-eight chapters, and 69,384 characters. 220b Every character is accompanied by the letter myo, and makes a Buddha by itself. The Buddha who is embodied in each character has the thirty-two major physical marks and the eighty minor physical marks. Each of the ten regions reveals the Buddha world in its own region. Miao-le says, "Since the living beings of each region have the fruits of Buddhahood, they also have the fruits of the natures of the living beings of the other nine regions. The Buddha answered Sariputra, saying, "The Buddhas appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to open the gate to the insight of the Buddha." Here "all living beings" include not only Sariputra but also all living beings of he nine other regions and icchantikas.

Here the Buddha has fulfilled his vow to save all living beings. He says, "I once vowed that I would cause all living beings to become exactly as I am. That old vow of ine has now been fulfilled." Hearing this, the great bodhisattvas and gods understood the words of the Buddha. They said:

So far we have heard many teachings of the World-honored One. But we have never heard such a profound, wonderful and excellent teaching as this.

Dengyo Daishi comments on this, saying.

"So far we have heard many teachings of the World-honored One" means that they have heard the great teachings expounded in the Avatamsaka-sutra and other sutras before the Saddharmapundarika-sutra. "We have never heard such a profound, wonderful, and excellent teaching as this means that they have never heard the teaching that "there is only one Buddha vehicle," expounded in the Saddharmapundarika-sutra. They understood that the Avatamsaka-sutra, the Vaipulya sutras, the Mahaprajhaparamita-sutra, the Samdhinirmocana-sutra, the Mahavairocana-sutra, and other innumerable Mahayana sutras did not reveal the core 61

220c

of the teachings of he Buddha, the essence of the teaching of one mind-three thousand, that is to say, the two most important teachings: the possibility of the adherents of the two vehicles attaining Buddhahood and the eternity of Sakyamuni Buddha.

Now the great bodhisattvas, Brahma, Sakra, the sun god, the moon god, and the Heavenly Kings of the Four Quarters have become the disciples of the Lord Teacher Sakyamuni, the Worldhonored One. In the "Chapter on Beholding the Stupa of Treasures," the Buddha treated the great bodhisattvas as his disciples and said, "Who will protect, keep, read, and recite this sutra after my extinction? Make a vow to do this before me!" The great bodhisattvas followed the Buddha "just as the branches of trees end and kusa plants sway before a strong wind, or as the water of all rivers runs into the ocean."

At that time, however, the session on Mount Sacred Eagle was only halfway over [and the congregation could not understand the words of the Buddha very well]. They felt as if they were having a dream.

Thereupon the stupa of reasures appeared to prove the truthfulness of Sakyamuni's teachings. After that the Buddhas of the ten quarters assembled before the stupa of treasures, and Sakyamuni said that all these Buddhas were his emanations. Then Sakyamuni Buddha sat by the side of Prabhutaratna in the stupa of treasures in the sky, and it was as if the sun and the moon were shining in the sky simultaneously. Gods and men were raised up into the sky and stayed there like the stars. Sakyamuni's ephca-Buddhas sat on the lion seats under the jeweled trees on the ground.

The universe as revealed in the Avatamsaka-sutra is called the Lotus Store world. In the Lotus Store world, the sambhogakayas of the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters as well as the sambhogakaya of Sakyamuni Buddha of this world stay in their own Buddha worlds. In other words, the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters do not come to this Saha world. They do not call 62

Chapter II

themselves emanations of Sakyamuni Buddha. The Buddha o t is world does not visit any of the worlds of the other Buddhas. e great bodhisattvas such as Dharma Wisdom Bodhisattva come to this world, but not the Buddhas.

It appears that the nine Honorable Ones on the eight petals of the lotus flower and the thirty-seven Honorable Ones as revealed m the Mahavairocana-sutra and the Sarvatathdgatatattvasamgraha are emanations of Mahavairocana Tathagata, but these emanations are not the beginningless Buddhas having the trikayas. The one thousand Buddhas as revealed in the Mahaprajnaparamitasutra and the Buddhas of the worlds of the six quarters as revealed in the Sukhavatlvyuha-sutra did not come to this Saha wor . The Buddhas who assembled at the Great Treasure Hall as revealed in the Mahasamnipata-sutra are not the emanations of Sakyamuni Buddha. The four Buddhas of the worlds of the four quarters as revealed in the Suvarnaprabhasa are the mrmanakayas of the Buddha. In no sutra except the Saddharmapundarika-sutra did the Buddha collect the Buddhas provided with the trikdyas that they had obtained by their respective practices, and call them his emanations. Therefore, the "Chapter on Beholding the Stupa of Treasures" is an indirect introduction to the "Chapter on the Duration of the Life of the Tathagata. [In the "Chapter on Beholding the Stupa of Treasures, ] Sakyamuni, the World-honored One, who was still considered to have attained enlightenment forty-odd years before, collected the Buddhas who had attained enlightenment a kalpa or ten kalpas before and called them his emanations. This astonished the congregation because ranking the Buddhas into two, the Original Buddha and his emanations, is against the principle of equality. They thought that the Buddha who had attained enlightenment for the first time during his life in this world could not have disciples in the worlds of the ten quarters. Therefore, the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters did not think that they had game anything when they were called the emanations of Sakyamuni Buddha. T'ien-t'ai says, "The fact that Sakyamuni Buddha has so 63

2218 many Replica-Buddhas shows that he attained Buddhahood a long time ago." The congregation were astonished [because they had not yet been informed of the originality of Sakyamuni Buddha], In addition to this, great bodhisattvas, as many as the partides of dust produced by pulverizing one thousand worlds, sprang up from underground. They were far more excellent in appearance than Samantabhadra and Manjusri, both of whom were regarded as the most excellent disciples of Sakyamuni, the World-honored One. The great bodhisattvas who appeared in the Avatamsaka-sutra, the Vaipulya sutras, and the Prajnàparamita sutras, the great bodhisattvas who came to this Saha world in the "Chapter on Beholding the Stupa of reasures" of he Saddharmapundarika-sutra, and the sixteen great bodhisattvas including Vajrasattva of the Mahavairocana-sutra, were like monkeys or mountain-dwellers when compared with the great bodhisattvas from underground, who were like Sakra or noblemen. Even Maitreya Bodhisattva, who was designated as the successor of Sakyamuni Buddha, did not know who they were. Needless to say> th® other people did not know them, either. There were four great saints among these great bodhisattvas from underground: Visistacàritra, Anantacaritra, Visuddhacàritra, and Supratisthitacaritra. The bodhisattvas in the sky and on Mount Sacred Eagle could not see these four great saints squarely or think about them. The four bodhisattvas of he Avatamsaka-sutra, the four bodhisattvas of the Mahavairocana-sutra, and the sixteen great bodhisattvas of the Sarvatathagatatattvasarhgraha were like dim-sighted people before the sun, or like fishermen before the emperor, when they faced these four great saints. These four great saints were like the Four Saints headed by T'ai-kung-wang, or like the four grey-haired men (Ssu-hao, Shiko) of ount Shang-shan (Shozan), who attended Emperor Hui-ti (Keitei) of the Han dynasty. These four great saints were indeed that honorable. They were next to Sakyamuni, Prabhiitaratna, and the Replica-Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters. They should be respected as the virtuous friends of all living beings. Maitreya Bodhisattva thought:

64

Chapter II

I have known all the bodhisattvas who appeared in this world and who have assembled here from the worlds of the ten quarters since the Buddha was a crown prince. Fortytwo years ago, the Buddha attained enlightenment at the age of thirty. Now he is staying on Mount Sacred Eagle. I have visited the Pure Worlds as well as the defiled worlds of the ten quarters as a messenger of the Buddha or of my own will; therefore, I know the great bodhisattvas of those worlds. But I have never before seen any of the great bodhisattvas who have come from underground. Who is their teacher? Their teacher must be incomparably more excellent than Sakyamuni, Prabhutaratna, or the Replica-Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters. When we see a heavy rain, we know that the dragon who caused the rain is large. When we see a large lotus flower, we know that the pond is deep. I wonder what world they came from, what Buddha they met, and what teaching they learned. He was too perplexed to say a word. Probably due to the power of the Buddha, however, he was able to ask the Buddha, saying: We have never before seen these many thousands of billions of odhisattvas.... These bodhisattvas have great powers, virtue, and energy. Who expounded the Dharma to them? Who taught them? Who qualified them to attain perfect enlightenment? What teaching of the Buddha did they extol?... World-honored One! I have never seen them before. Tell me the name of the world in which they lived! I have visited many worlds, but have never seen them anywhere. I do not know any of them. They appeared suddenly from underground. Tell me why!

T'ien-t'ai says:

Maitreya Bodhisattva meant to say, "During the period from the Buddha's attainment of enlightenment up to this session, many bodhisattvas have come here one after another from the worlds of the ten quarters. Their number is 221b

65

unlimited. I have seen and known all of them by the power of my wisdom by which I am designated as the successor of Sakyamuni Buddha. But I know none of these great bodhisattvas who have appeared from underground. I also have visited the worlds of the ten quarters and have seen the Buddhas there, and have been cordially introduced to the people there. But I have never seen these bodhisattvas from underground. "

Miao-le says, "Only a wise man knows the origin of a thing. Only snakes know snakes." What is meant by the words of the sutra and Miao-le's comment on them is clear. It means that Maitreya Bodhisattva had never seen or heard of these bodhisattvas in this world, or in the worlds of the ten quarters since the Buddha's attainment of enlightenment.

The Buddha answered Maitreya, saying:

Ajita! I know that you have never seen these... bodhisattvas. After I attained anuttara-samyak-sambodhi in the Saha world, I taught these bodhisattvas, led them, trained them, and caused them to aspire to enlightenment.... I once sat under the bodhi tree in the city of Gaya, attained perfect enlightenment, and turned the wheel of the unsurpassed Dharma. I taught them, and caused them to aspire to enlightenment. Now they do not falter in seeking enlightenment. I have been teaching them since the remotest past. Thereupon Maitreya and other great bodhisattvas thought: DharmaWisdom Bodhisattva and many other great bodhisattvas omed the congregation of the vatamsaka-sutra. We wondered who they were. The Buddha told us that they were his good friends of virtue. Therefore, our doubts were cleared. The same can be said of the great bodhisattvas who joined the congregations at the Great Treasure Hall and the White Heron Pond. But these great bodhisattvas who have come from underground seem to be much older than those 66

Chapter II

great bodhisattvas previously mentioned. We thought that they were the teachers of Sakyamuni, the World-honored One. But the Buddha says that he "caused them to aspire to enlightenment," and that he made these "young" people his disciples. This is quite unbelievable. Crown Prince Shotoku of Japan was the son of the thirty-second Emperor Ybmei. When he was six years old, some old men came from Pekche, Kokuri, and China. The six-year-old Crown Prince said that they were his disciples. The old men joined their hands together toward him, and called him their teacher. This is unbelievable. There is the following story in China. A man saw on the roadside a young man about twenty years old beating an old man about eighty years old. He asked the young man why he beat the old man. The young man said that this old man was his son. [This is also unbelievable.] So is what the Buddha told us now.

Thereupon Maitreya Bodhisattva and others asked the Buddha, saying:

World-honored One! When you, the Tathagata, were a crown prince, you left the palace of the Sakyas, sat at the place of enlightenment not far from the city of Gaya, and attained anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. It is only forty-odd years since then. World-honored One! How did you do these great deeds of the Buddha in such a short time?

Bodhisattvas raised questions at every session of the Buddha s expounding of the Dharma during the forty-odd years since the time of his expounding of the Avatarhsaka-sutra. The Buddha answered them and cleared the doubts of all living beings. But this question is probably the most difficult to answer. This is a far more difficult question than that raised by Great Adornment Bodhisattva and eighty thousand other bodhisattvas m the Muryogi-kyo: How can one attain enlightenment instantly without the necessity of erforming the bodhisattva practices for kalpas, which was required during the past forty and more years? 67

222a According to the Kammuryoju-kyo (Kuan-u>u-liang-shouching), King Ajatasatru imprisoned his father King Bimbisàra and usurped the throne at the instigation of Devadatta. He attempted to starve his father to death. Seeing this, his mother, Queen Vaidehi, carried food to the king in secret. The son tried to kill her, but released her on the advice of Jivaka and Candraprabha. The released queen invited the Buddha and asked him, "By what sin did I become the mother of this evil son? World-honored One! Why are you a relative of Devadatta?"

Her question was very important. She thought: The wheel-turning holy king is not born with his enemy. Sakra does not live with devils. The Buddha has been the Compassionate One for the past innumerable kalpas. Why is he living with his great enemy? Is he not the Buddha? The Buddha did not answer her, however. Those who read and recite the Kammuryôju-kyo should read the "Chapter on Devadatta" in the Saddharmapundarlka-sütra. Otherwise, this question will not be answered. The thirty-six questions raised by Kâsyapa Bodhisattva in the Mahâparinirvâna-sütra are not as important as this question [raised by Maitreya Bodhisattva], If the Buddha did not answer this question, all his teachings expounded throughout his life would be reduced to bubbles and all living beings would be caught in a mesh of doubts. The Buddha answered this question in the "Chapter on the Duration of the Life of the Tathâgata" in the Saddharmapundarïka-sütra. This is why this chapter is the most important one. The Buddha says in this chapter:

The gods, men, and asuras in the world think that I, Sàkyamuni Buddha, left the palace of the Sâkyas, sat at the place of enlightenment not far from the city of Gaya, and attained anuttara-samyak-sambodhi [forty and more years ago].

This statement expresses the thought of ll the great bodhisattvas and others who have heard the Buddha from the time that the 68

Chapter II

Avatarhsaka-sutra was expounded at the place of enlightenment up to the time of his expounding the "Chapter on Peaceful Practices" in the Saddharmapundarika-sutra.

The Buddha goes on to say, "To tell the truth, good men, it is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of kalpas since I became the Buddha. "

This means that the following [eight] statements are false: 1. It is stated as many as three times in the Avatarhsaka-sutra that the Buddha attained enlightenment for the first time during his life in this world.

2. The Agama sutras also contain the same statement. 3. It says in the Vimalakirtinirdesa-sutra that the Buddha sat under the tree for the first time during his life in this world. 4. The Mahdsarhnipata-sutra reads that it is sixteen years since the Tathagata attained enlightenment.

5. It says in the Mahdvairocana-sutra that the Buddha first sat at the place of enlightenment during his life in this world. 6. It says in the Ninno-hannya-kyo that the Buddha has been expounding the Dharma for the past twenty-nine years. 7. It says in the Murydgi-kyo that the Buddha sat at the place of enlightenment under the tree for six years. 8. In the "Chapter on Expedients" in the Saddharmapundarika-sutra, the Buddha says that he sat at the place of enlightenment for the first time during his life in this world. All these statements of the Buddha now turn out to be false. Here the beginninglessness of the life of the Buddha is revealed, and all the Buddhas have become the emanations of Sakyamuni, the World-honored One.

In the first fourteen chapters of the Saddharmapundarikasutra as well as in the earlier sutras, Sakyamuni, the Worldhonored One, stood equal to the other Buddhas. Buddhas practice differently. Therefore, those who worshiped a particular Buddha 222b

69

other than Sakyamuni despised Sakyamuni. But now Vairocana Buddha on the lotus flower of the Avatarhsaka-sutra, and the Buddhas who appeared in the Vaipulya sutras, the Prajnaparamita sutras, and the Mahavairocana-sutra have become the followers of Sakyamuni.

The Buddha attained enlightenment at the age of thirty and became the lord of the Saha world, replacing the Great Brahma Heavenly King and the God of the Sixth Heaven. In the first fourteen chapters of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra and in the earlier sutras, the Buddha called the worlds of the ten quarters the Pure Worlds of the Buddhas, and despised the Saha world as a defiled world. Now this world has become the world of the Original Buddha, and the Pure Worlds of the ten quarters have become the defiled worlds of the emanations of the Original Buddha. Since the Buddha is eternal, the great bodhisattvas who have appeared in the first fourteen chapters of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra and the bodhisattvas of the other worlds have become the disciples of the Lord Teacher Sakyamuni, the Worldhonored One. Without the "Chapter on the Duration of the Life of Tathagata, all the sutras would be like the sky without the sun and the moon, like a country without a king, like mountains and rivers without gems, or like a man without a soul. However, in order to praise the sutras they prefer, Ch'engkuan, Chia-shang, Tz'u-en, Kobo, and other wise-appearing teachers of the Provisional Mahayana sects, such as Kegon and Shingon, say that the Lord Teacher of the Avatarhsaka-sutra is the sambhogakdya while the Lord Teacher of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra is the nirmdnakdya, or that the Buddha in the Chapter on the Duration of the Life of the Tathagata" in the Saddharmapundarika-sutra is still at the stage of darkness while the Buddha of the Mahavairocana-sutra is at the stage of brightness. Clouds hide the moon. Slanderous vassals conceal wise men. When praised, a yellow stone looks like a gem, and a flatterer appears to be a wise man. Now the scholars of this defiled world are deceived by them and do not treasure the gem of the "Chapter on 70

Chapter II

the Duration of the Life of the Tathagata." The teachers of the Tendai Sect also are deceived by them, and think that gold is the same as a stone.

If he Buddha is not eternal, his disciples will be few. The moon does not begrudge making its reflection, but it cannot reflect itself without water. The Buddha wishes to teach people, but it would be useless for him to complete the eight aspects of his life without people. The sravakas were assured of their attainment of Buddhahood in the first fourteen chapters of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra, but they did not become Buddhas at once. They were allowed only to proceed to the first of the ten stages, or to the first of the ten periods of bodhisattva practices, because they were too preoccupied with saving themselves to be able to save others before the Saddharmapundarika-sutra was expounded. They had to complete the eight aspects of the Buddha in their future lives. Brahma, Sakra, the sun god, the moon god, and the Heavenly Kings of the Four Quarters have now become the disciples of the Buddha. As far as the first fourteen chapters of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra are concerned, however, the Lord Teacher Sakyamuni, the World-honored One, attained enlightenment only forty-odd years before, while the gods had been ruling this world from the beginning of the kalpa of composition. Therefore, although the hearers of the Saddharmapundarikasutra, expounded during eight years on Mount Sacred Eagle, understood that the Buddha is the teacher of the gods, they were still attracted by the gods, just as a newly enthroned king is not as popular as the retired king.

Since the eternity of Sakyamuni Buddha has been revealed, Suryaprabhasana and Candraprabha, accompanying

Bhaisajyaguru Tathagata in the west; the disciples of the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten quarters; and the great bodhisattvas who are the disciples of Mahavairocana Tathagata of the two dhatus, revealed in the Mahavairocana-sutra, the Sarvatathagatatattvasamgraha, and other sutras; have become the disciples of the Lord Teacher Sakyamuni, the World-honored One. Since the Buddhas 222c

71

223a are the emanations of Sakyamuni Tathagata, their disciples are also the disciples of Sakyamuni Tathagata. Needless to say, the sun god, the moon god, the star gods, and the other gods who have been living in this world from the beginning of the kalpa of composition of his world have become the disciples of he Lord Teacher Sakyamuni, the World-honored One.

Sects other than the Tendai Sect worship the wrong Buddha as the Most Honorable One. The Kusha, Jojitsu, and Ritsu Sects worship Sakyamuni, the World-honored One, who attained enlightenment by eliminating thirty-four illusions. Here the Buddha lowers his own dignity, just as when a crown prince thinks that he is the son of a commoner. The Kegon, Shingon, Sanron, and Hosso Sects are Mahayana sects. The Hosso and Sanron Sects worship the Buddha resembling the superior nirmanakaya as the Most Honorable One. Here the Buddha degrades himself, just as when a crown prince thinks that he is the son of guardsman. The Kegon and Shingon Sects despise Sakyamuni, the World-honored One, and worship Vairocana and Mahavairocana respectively. Here Sakyamuni is replaced by a religious king of obscure origin, just as when a king is replaced by a person of suspicious identity. The Jodo Sect abandons the Lord Teacher and worships Amitabha Buddha, who is an emanation of Sakyamuni, on the belief that Amitabha is the Buddha associated with the living beings of this world. The Zen Sect despises both the Buddha and the sutras expounded by the Buddha, just as an arrogant son despises his parents. All this comes from their ignorance about the Most Honorable One.

The people who were born before the time of the three Huang emperors were like beasts because they did not know their fathers. Just like them, the teachers of those sects are like beasts because they do not know the "Chapter on the Duration of the Life of the Tathagata." They do not know the favors given by others. Miao-le says:

Throughout all the sutras expounded by the Buddha, the eternity of the Buddha is not revealed anywhere else than 72

Chapter II

in the "Chapter on the Duration of the Life of the Tathagata." We should know the duration of the lives of our parents. If e do not know the duration of he life of he Buddha, who is our father, we shall not be able to know his Pure World. The teachers of these sects are clever but inhuman because they do not know that they should be dutiful to their father, that is, the Buddha.

Miao-le Ta-shih was active in the years of T'ien-pao (Tempo) at the end of the T'ang dynasty. He carefully studied the teachings of the Sanron, Kegon, Hosso, and Shingon Sects and their sutras, and said that those who do not know the Buddha revealed in the "Chapter on the Duration of the Life of the Tathagata" are clever beasts because they are ignorant of the Pure World of the Eternal Buddha. "Clever but inhuman" means that Fa-tsang of the Kegon Sect and Subhakarasimha of the Shingon Sect were clever but did not know the fatherhood of the Buddha just like a son who does not know his father.

Dengyo Daishi was the founder of Exoteric Buddhism and also of the Esoteric Buddhism of Japan. He says in his Hokke-shuku: In the sutras of sects other than the Tendai Hokke Sect, the Buddha's motherly love is expounded rather than his fatherly strictness. The Tendai Hokke Sect expounds both his motherly love and his fatherly strictness. According to the Tendai Hokke Sect, the Buddha is the father of all the saints and sages, of the sravakas who have something more to learn, of the sravakas who have nothing more to learn, and of those who have begun to aspire to enlightenment. The sutras of the Shingon and Kegon Sects do not mention even the names of the three steps of emanation: (1) to sow the seed of Buddhahood, (2) to grow the plant of Buddhahood, and (3) to develop Buddhahood into emancipation. Needless to say, those sutras do not explain these three steps.

The sutras of the Kegon and Shingon Sects make the statement that we shall be able to proceed to the first of the ten stages 73

223b of enlightenment during our life in this world and then become Buddhas. Those sutras are, however, the sutras of Provisional Mahayana teachings; therefore, they do not mention the seed of Buddhahood. Emancipation without knowing the seed of uddhahood sown in one's own mind is fruitless, just as Ch'ao-kao (Choko) or Dokyo, who had no royal blood, failed to usurp the throne. All the sects criticize one another, but I do not do so. I only depend on the Saddharmapundarika-sutra.

Vasubandhu Bodhisattva discovered the seed of Buddhahood implicitly expounded in the Saddharmapundarika-sutra and said that the most important thing is to know the seed of uddhahood. The seed of Buddhahood is explained in T'ien-t'ai's teaching of one mind-three thousand. According to T'ien-t'ai, the seeds of he various honorable ones given in theAvataihsaka-sutra, the Mahavairocana-sutra, and other Mahayana sutras come from the seed

of Buddhahood. The teaching of one mind—three thousand was established by T'ien-t'ai Chih-che Ta-shih (Tendai Chisha Daishi) and no one else.

Ch eng-kuan of he Kegon Sect took the teaching of ne mindthree thousand from T'ien-t'ai and utilized it to interpret the Avatamsaka-sutra's statement, "The mind is like a skillful painter. " The possibility of attaining Buddhahood by adherents of the two vehicles, the eternity of the life of Sakyamuni Buddha, and the teaching of one mind-three thousand are not found in the Mahavairocana-sutra or other sutras of the Shingon Sect. Subhakarasimha San-tsang came to China, read T'ien-t'ai's Makashikan, and gained a new understanding. He appropriated the teaching of one mind—three thousand from T'ien-t'ai, using it to interpret "the reality of the mind" and "I am the origin of all," as stated in the Mahavairocana-sutra. Thus he made the teaching of one mind— three thousand the basis of the Shingon Sect. Furthermore, he added mudras and mantras to the teaching, and said that the Mahavairocana-sutra and the Saddharmapundarika-sutra are the same in theory, but that the Mahavairocana-sutra is superior to the Saddharmapundarika-sutra because the former has mudras and mantras. He said that the mandalas of he two dhdtus 74

Chapter II

demonstrate the teachings of the possibility of attaining Buddhahood by adherents of the two vehicles and the mutual interpenetration of the ten regions. Is there any mention of hese two teachings in the Mahavairocana-sutra? Subhakarasimha s statement is most deceptive. Therefore, Dengyo Daishi says:

The newly imported Shingon Sect ignores the transmission of the Dharma by I-hsing (Ichigyo) of the Tendai Sect. The earlier imported Kegon Sect conceals the views of its own sect due to the influence of the Tendai Sect. The famous tanka poem, "Honobono to..., " was composed by Hitomaro. But if you go to a remote island and tell the islanders that you wrote that poem, they may believe you. The same can be said of the scholars of China and Japan, who make such deceptive statements as this.

Liang-hsu Ho-shang (Ryosho Osho) says, The Shingon, Zen, Kegon, and Sanron Sects are introductory to the Saddharmapundarika-sutra." Subhakarasimha San-tsang once fell seriously ill. In a coma, he dreamed that he was sent to the afterworld and tortured by Yama because he had abandoned the Saddharmapundarika-sutra. After he awoke from the dream, he had faith in the Saddharmapundarika-sutra and was released from the torture.

Subhakarasimha, Amoghavajra, and others place the Saddharmapundarika-sutra in the center of each of the two mandalas like a great king, and put on the sides of the sutra the Mahavairocana-sutra of the garbhadhatu and the Sarvatathagatatattvasamgraha of the vajradhatu like two ministers accompanying the great king. Kobo Daishi of Japan did the same when he transmitted the way of the practices of the Shingon Sect to Jitsu-e, Shinga, Encho, and Kojo, although due to the influence of the Kegon Sect, he regarded the Saddharmapundarika-sutra as only the third most important sutra.

Chia-hsiang (Kajo) of he Sanron Sect said in his Hokke-genron C Fa-hua-hsiian-lun) compiled in ten volumes: 75

The Saddharmapundarlka-sutra was expounded in the fourth period [the period of the Prajnaparamita sutras]. In this sutra, the two vehicles are criticized and then reappropriated and merged into the Buddha vehicle.

But he later followed T'ien-t'ai and "stopped lecturing, dismissed his congregation, and made himself a footstep for T'ien-t'ai who was going up to the elevated lecture seat. " Thus he served T'ien-223c t'ai for seven years. Tz'u-en of the Hosso Sect said in his Ho-on-girinjo (Fa-yiian-ilin-chang) compiled in seven volumes, "The One Vehicle is an expedient teaching. The three vehicles are the true teaching of the Buddha, and many other wrong views. But in the Hokke-genzanyoshu (Fa-hua-hsiian-tsan-yao-chi), Volume IV, written by his disciple Ch'i-fu (Saifuku), it says that the true intention of z'u-en was to put his sect into the group of indefinite teachings by admitting the views of both the Kegon and Tendai Sects. This view is ambiguous, but it implies that he followed T'ien-t'ai in his heart. Ch'eng-kuan of the Kegon Sect said in his commentary on the Avatamsaka-sutra that the Saddharmapundarlka-sutra is a sutra of xpedient teachings when compared with the vatamsaka-sutra, but he also said:

The Tendai Sect says that the teaching of one mind-three thousand is the true teaching of the Buddha. This teaching is not inconsistent with the teaching of the Kegon Sect. Doesn t this statement mean that he repented of his statement that the Saddharmapundarlka-sutra is a sutra of expedient teachings?

The same can be said of Subhakarasirnha and Kobo. We cannot see our faces without a mirror. We cannot discover our own faults without our enemies. The scholars of he Shingon and other sects did not know their own faults. I think that when they saw Dengyo Daishi, they realized the defects of their sects. It says in some sutras expounded before the Saddharmapundarlka-sutra that a certain bodhisattva, a man or a god,

76

Chapter II

attained Buddhahood. Their attainment of Buddhahood was not real but fabulous because the vow of Sakyamuni and the other Buddhas to save all living beings was not fulfilled in any other sutra until the Saddharmapundarlka-sutra, in which the Buddha said, "I once vowed that I would cause all living beings to become exactly as I am. That old vow of mine has now been fulfilled. " Therefore, I can say this. Those who study and practice the Avatamsaka-sutra, the Kammurydju-kyo, the Mahavairocanasutra, and other sutras will undoubtedly be protected by the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and gods of those sutras. But if they oppose a practitioner of the Saddharmapundarlka-sutra, their protectors will leave them and protect the practitioner of the Saddharmapundarlka-sutra instead.

A dutiful son will leave his father and follow the king if his father becomes an enemy of the king. It is the true virtue of filial piety to do so. The same can be said of the teachings of the Buddha. I shall be protected not only by the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and the ten raksasls of the Saddharmapundarlka-sutra but also by the Buddhas of the worlds of the six quarters and twenty-five bodhisattvas of the Jodo Sect, the one thousand two hundred honorable ones of the Shingon Sect, and the honorables and guardian gods of the seven sects, just as Dengyo Daishi was protected by the guardian gods of the seven sects.

I thought that if the practitioner of he Saddharmapundarlkasutra appeared, the sun god, the moon god, and other gods, who attended at the three sessions of he two places of he Saddharmapundarlka-sutra, would immediately come to him just as a magnet attracts iron or as the moon reflects itself on the water, and fulfill their vow to protect him. But they have not yet come to me. Am I not the practitioner of the Saddharmapundarlka-sutra? I will consult sutras again and see whether I am wrong or not in saying this.

224a

77