A Collation of the Layers of the Various Teachings
of All the Buddhas of the Past, Present
and Future as to Which Specific Doctrines
are to be Discarded or Established

Sô Kan Mon Shô
Goshô Shimpen, p.1408-1426

The tenth month of the second year of Kô.an [1279] at 58 years of age

That lifetime of holy instruction, which on the whole is fifty years of explaining and teaching, can also be referred to as all the sutras. The sutras are divided into two categories, the first is for the conversion of others and the second is the Buddha's own conduct.

When it comes to the teachings for the conversion of others, this would include all the sutric teachings of the forty-two years that came before the Dharma Flower Sutra. These are said to be the provisional teachings, and are also designated as being expedient means. These are the three of the four teachings, that come before the Dharma Flower, those of the Three Receptacles, the Interrelated Teachings and the Particular Teaching. In terms of the five periods, the Flower Garland [Kegon], the teachings of the individual vehicle [Agon], the Equally Broad [Hôdô] and the Wisdom Period [Hannya] make up the four periods of sutric teaching that came prior to the Dharma Flower. Again from the point of view of the ten realms of dharmas (things) the provisional teachings apply to the first nine dharma realms only. If we look upon it as the difference between dreaming and being wide awake, the provisional teachings are like the good and evil in a dream. Dreams are said to be transient whereas alertness corresponds to reality. Therefore because a dream is supposedly without a fundamental substantial nature we think of it as being provisional. An alertness that abides eternally is the unwavering fundamental substance of mind. For this reason we call it reality. This is in contrast to all the sutric teachings which Shakyamuni expounded over a period of forty-two years which really are no more than good and evil events taking place in the dream of living and dying, thus, these are called the provisional teachings. These sutric teachings I presume were the required expedient means for rudely shattering the illusory dreams of sentient beings so that they could be enticed to the enlightenment of the Dharma Flower Sutra. Again this is why they are called the provisional teachings. This would imply that one must know the readings of the ideograms properly, because the ideogram for 'provisional' should be read and understood as meaning 'for the time being'. A dream would be a basic example of something that is provisional. Once again the ideogram for 'real' has the undertone of 'in fact' or 'the truth in the sense of the fruition of a sequence of events and circumstances'. 'A matter of fact' is an example of being consciously aware. Because the dream of living and dying is a temporary state of affairs without a fundamental substance it is then an example of something that is provisional. This we refer to as a delusion or a wild idea. The awakening to a fundamental enlightenment is real, it is a mind that is separated from coming into being or becoming extinct, this is an example of true reality. This is what is called the real aspect. According to these premises you must know that these two ideograms for 'provisional' and 'real' accurately point to the difference in a lifetime of holy teaching between the provisional teachings for the conversion of others and the real teaching that is the Buddha's own conduct. Because within the bounds of the four teachings during Shakyamuni's lifetime it is the first three of these teachings, (i) those of the three receptacles, (ii) the interrelated teachings, and (iii) the particular teaching. Out of the five periods, the first four that came before the Dharma Flower (which are the Flower Garland, the teachings of the individual vehicle, the interconnecting and the wisdom periods), as well as the first nine of the realms of dharmas (things) (which culminated in that of the bodhisattva) are all expounded in the same way as though they were the good and evil happenings in the midst of a dream. Hence they are called the provisional teachings. This particular aspect of the Buddha teaching is expounded in the Sutra on the Incalculable Significance where it says, "For forty years or so I have not yet revealed the true reality." So that all the sutras that have not yet revealed the true reality are the provisional teachings. In the Explanatory Notes on the Recondite Significance of the Dharma Flower it says, "Even though there is no particular self nature, but without a doubt due to the availability of illusion, illusory propensities are moved by the illusory Buddha to an illusory response to take an illusory direction, those who do respond and those who are converted are neither those of the provisional nor the real teachings. All these teachings that are in a hallucinatory dream are those of the expedient means." The explanation for this is, "There is no particular self nature." When we become awakened to the idea that the dream we saw is the essence of mind and that there is only one essence of mind, then broadly speaking there is no fundamental difference between the illusory nature of one thing or another. On being awakened to the unreality of the events in the dream, the dual nature of events becomes the single mind of dharmas (things). What we thought we saw is said to be the working of our own mind. In the Universal Desistance from Troublesome Worries in order to See Clearly [Maka Shikan], it says, "In those first three teachings that came before the Dharma Flower, even the four all embracing vows of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, both he who is able to fulfill them and those that are held to them are now extinguished." What the four all embracing vows of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas entail is, (i) to vow to ferry unaccountably boundless sentient beings over the sea of living and dying to the shores of Nirvana, (ii) to vow to cut away unaccountably boundless troublesome worries, (iii) to vow to try and know the inexhaustible number of gateways to the dharma, (iv) to vow to substantiate the unsurpassed Enlightenment of the Buddha. He who is able to fulfill these vows is the Tathâgata and those who are held to them are sentient beings. In this way we have an explanation to show that the Buddha who can fulfill, the sentient beings who are held to the four all embracing vows of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, as well as the first three teachings that came before the Dharma Flower are inevitably immersed in a dream. This being the case then all the sutras that were expounded and taught during the forty-two years prior to the Dharma Flower are the expedient means of the provisional doctrines that have not yet revealed the true reality. Because they are only an expedient means to entice people to receive and rely on the Dharma Flower, they cannot be the actual truth. After this the Buddha himself completed forty-two years of teaching and finding it now suitable to expound the Dharma Flower Sutra, it was then time for the introductory part of the opening Sutra on the Incalculable Significance. By being the special teaching that deals with the Buddha's own profound collation of his teachings, there was no need to bother with human modes of speech since there was no need to give rise to discriminating thoughts. The Explanatory Notes on the Recondite Significance of the Dharma Flower alludes to this by saying, "The nine realms of dharmas (things) refer to the provisional, the dharma realm of the Buddha refers to what is real." The Buddha preached and expounded for forty-two years the provisional teaching which involves the nine realms of dharmas (things), the real teaching of the dharma realm of the Buddha are the eight years of his exposition of the Dharma Flower Sutra. This is why the Dharma Flower Sutra is called the Buddha vehicle. On account of the principle that the living and dying of the nine realms of dharmas (things) is a self delusion it is called the teaching that is based on what is provisional but due to the principle that the enlightenment to the Buddha realm is eternally abiding, it is called the teaching of what is real. As a result of fifty years of teaching and expounding during a whole life of holy teaching which is made up of forty-two years of converting others through the provisional doctrine and the eight years based on his own realization, so that there would be no indistinctness at all.

Nevertheless if I were to think that by following the practices of the three receptacles teachings for three asogi hundred universal kalpas I would end up by becoming a Buddha, my person would come out of the fire and my person of ashes would enter Nirvana, but by having been turned into ashes I would therefore be lost forever. If I were to follow the practices of the interrelated teachings for seven asogi hundred universal kalpas to the full measure, with the thought of becoming a Buddha, in the same way as the previous instance my person reduced to ashes would enter Nirvana and disappear without even the trace of a shadow. Now if I were with the intention of becoming Enlightened and do the practices of the particular teaching until I had reached the end of twenty-two universal asogi and hundreds of ten thousands of kalpas, I would then become a Buddha of the provisional teachings in the midst of a dream of living and dying. But when it comes to the time of the original enlightenment of the Dharma Flower Sutra, the Buddha of the particular teaching by having attained to the fruition of a dream, is no longer the real Buddha at all. Since we are able to say that the doctrine of the way of the particular teaching is not that of the real Buddha. The proof of having attained to the way of the particular teaching means to have arrived at the beginning of the ten stages in the fifty-two grades of the development of a bodhisattva into a Buddha. That means having broken through one tenth of his unenlightenment and to have come to realize one tenth of the principle of the middle way. What we see from the beginning is the knowledge that the particular teaching is a doctrine of a practice that runs through separated and disjointed ages. On moving into the all-inclusive teaching this person ends up by having a way of being that is all-inclusive and is no longer held back by the particular teaching. People become different due to their having greater, medium or lesser propensities, but even those who are at the first, second or third stages of firm ground in the development of a bodhisattva into a Buddha or even those who have arrived at the overall enlightenment can also become people of the all-inclusive teaching, because apparently the Buddha of the particular teaching does not exist. This is why we talk about the existence of a teaching, which has not produced a person who is enlightened. This is referred to in the Essays on Safeguarding and Protecting the Frontiers of the State as: "The provisional fruition in the dream of the reward body of a Buddha who came to exist through karmic causes and affinities" refers to [the Buddha of the three periods of teachings and practices that came before the Dharma Flower]; "The triple body independent of all karma is the real Buddha prior to his own enlightenment to it" refers to [the all-inclusive teaching of the Buddha of the contemplation of the mind who came afterwards]. Also in the same text we have, "The triple body of the provisional teachings had not yet been able to avoid its own transiency." This refers to [the Buddha of the three periods of teachings that came before the Dharma Flower]. "The triple body of the real teachings is endowed with the fundamental substance and its workings." This refers to [the all-inclusive teaching of the Buddha of the contemplation of the mind who came afterwards]. You should very thoroughly get to know these explanations. If you are thinking of becoming a Buddha through the austere and ascetic observances and practices of the provisional teachings, you will then become a provisional Buddha in the midst of a dream and when the time comes to be awakened to the original enlightenment and understanding, you will no longer be a real Buddha. Since there is no one who has become a Buddha as though it were the ultimate fruition of a long process, consequently there is a doctrine but there is no person to found it on. Therefore how could the teaching of such a dharma be real? If we are to take the provisional teachings as they are and try to practice and observe them, then they become little more than a muddied approach to the teaching that is whole. Let us no longer discuss it and just put aside the testimonies of the three teachings, that came before the Dharma Flower Sutra, as one cannot become a Buddha through them. We should set about opening up the understanding of the sentient beings of the final age of the dharma of Shakyamuni as well as their power to discern things and also their underlying principle.

Sentient beings of the nine realms of dharmas (things) whose instant of mind has fallen into the sleep of unenlightenment, and by being drowned in the dream of the cycles of living and dying, have forgotten their enlightenment to the original enlightenment and understanding, they by hook or by crook attach themselves to the dream and slip into one benightedness after another. This is why the Tathâgata enters into our dreams of living and dying just like a sentient being with absurd ideas such as we, then by making use of the language of the dream in order to entice the deluded sentient beings to gradually listen to discourses that can differentiate between the dream's good and evil contents. Since the good and evil contents in the dream are in uncountable layers and boundlessly variegated, the Buddha with a view to the good dharmas (things) first established dharma teachings for the three vehicles of (i) the hearers of the voice, (ii) those who are partially enlightened due to karmic circumstances, (iii) the bodhisattvas. This is what is called "the three times three that make nine categories of good dharmas (things)". The higher good dharma applies to bodhisattvas, the medium good applies to those who are partially enlightened due to karmic circumstances and the lesser good refers to the hearers of the voice of the Buddha. Within each of these three categories there are also higher, medium and less good dharmas (things), which make a total of nine. After the Buddha had finished expounding the teachings of the three times three that make nine categories of good dharmas (things), he then established the highest summit of these nine teachings referring to them as the fundamental root of good. Nevertheless, the whole of these teachings throughout consists of the rights and wrongs of good and evil in the midst of the dream of living and dying in the nine realms of dharmas (things). Nowadays they are generally considered as being distorted views outside the path. [This is implied in A Search into the Essentials as an Aid to the Practice of the Universal Desistance from Troublesome Worries in order to See Clearly]. However, since the Buddha's thinking behind that highest summit of the teaching is true to reality, its principle was underlined by the original enlightenment. When this root of good was justified to his hearers, it was on account of the impact of their being awakened out of the good and evil of the dream they were informed for the first time of the intrinsicality of the real aspect of the enlightenment of the original mind. It was on this occasion that the Buddha explained this concept by saying that between dreaming and being awake there is illusion and reality but there is only the oneness of the dharmas (things) and mind. Our dreams are due to the circumstances we encounter in our sleep and when sleep ends our minds become alert. The Buddha by having to make people come to the understanding of the oneness of mind and dharmas (things), he had to create an underlying foundation through the expedient means. [This is the principle of the middle way of the particular teachings]. But nobody became a Buddha because there was no revelation of the ten realms of dharmas (things) being mutually endowed with the same ten realms or that the apparent identities of being and things cannot be separate from the all-inclusive unobstructed accommodation of phenomenon [ke], relativity [kû] and the middle way [chû]. From the four direct, gradual, esoteric and variable methods of teaching whose content of the fundamental truth was accommodated to the propensities of the disciples and from the teachings of the three receptacles to those of the particular teaching which make up the eight classifications of Shakyamuni's teachings, were taught over a period of forty-two years, all of them from beginning to end were an expedient means as well as simply being the good things and the bad things in the middle of a dream. However the Buddha for the time being, used these doctrines as provident expediencies in order to induce sentient beings to enter upon the path. Throughout all of these provisional doctrines which in parts are the genuine truth, but neither the provisional nor the real teachings are destitute of the dharma. The teaching of the three receptacles, the interconnecting teachings, the particular teaching and those of the all-inclusive teachings, each one of them without any differentiation whatsoever are all gateways to the dharma. The wording used throughout is exactly the same and there is not the slightest difference in the ideograms that are used. So according to this, when people become confused over the wording and cannot discriminate between the provisional and the real teachings, then the dharma of the Buddha will become extinct.

The teachings that are the expedient means belong to this impure and imperfect world of ours, as a rule they do not exist in places that are immaculate. It says in the Dharma Flower Sutra, "In all the Buddha lands of the ten directions there is only the dharma of the one vehicle, there are neither two nor are there three; apart from those expedient means that were expounded by the Buddha himself. Because you know that by taking the teachings of the expedient means that do not exist in the Buddha lands of the ten directions, they can be used as a means to help people to pass over to be reborn in the immaculate terrain of the Buddha Amida! Would it not be possible that people would take a dislike to the one vehicle and turn them away from the principle that would make them into Buddhas? The Lord of the teaching, the Tathâgata Shakyamuni, after collating the layers of profundities of all the sutras that he had expounded during a lifetime, said that his manner of expounding the Dharma was carried out in the same way as all the Buddhas of the past, present and future who also collated the layers of profundities and set them in order with a oneness of language and mind, Shakyamuni did the same, by expounding the teaching without a single discrepancy in words whatsoever."

It says in the Second Chapter on Expedient Means, "In the same manner as All the Buddhas of the past present and future, I now in like fashion expound the dharma that makes no distinction between one thing or being and another." The dharma that does not discriminate is the Utterness of the Dharma of the one vehicle. It neither picks out good nor bad, nor the plants, trees, forests nor groves, not even the mountains, rivers nor the great earth nor even the tiny particles of dust. Each and all of them are endowed with the mutual possession of the ten realms of dharmas (things). The one vehicle of the Sutra on the Lotus Flower of the Utterness of the Dharma is my mind which takes in all the surrounding immaculate terrains of the ten directions without leaving anything out whatsoever. The majestically virtuous merits of the reward of the subjectivity and their dependent environments of immaculate terrains of the ten directions, which are never absent for an instant from my mind, are the three bodies not separate from the one of the originally enlightened Tathâgata. Beyond this there are no dharmas (things). This one dharma alone is in possession of the immaculate terrains, other teachings do not possess them. This is why this dharma is called the one that is devoid of discrimination. By not taking to the practice of the one vehicle of the Utterness of the Dharma, all the immaculate terrains cease to exist. By resorting to the teachings of the expedient means with the idea of becoming a Buddha is bewilderment in the midst of a delusion. After becoming a Buddha, were I to return to stand upon this unclean world of ours so as to induce the sentient beings who inhabit it to enter into the realm of the dharma of the Buddha, I would gradually entice them by using expedient means to direct them, these teachings are for the conversion of others. Hence they are referred to as the provisional doctrine or the expedient means. As the gateways to the dharma that are for the edification of others now stand, are on the whole known to have omissions in one way or another.

Next, we come to the Dharma that is the Buddha's own practice, these are the eight years during which he expounded the Dharma Flower Sutra. This is the sutra that deals with the enlightenment to the original mind. Because sentient beings can only habitually think in terms of their minds and their dependent terrains as being in the midst of a dream. The Buddha makes use of the words and language of the dream in order to teach them about the original mind. Nevertheless, even though the words may be those of the language of the dream, the intention is to bring about an awareness of the original mind. This is what is inferred in the text and the explanations of the Dharma Flower Sutra. If this is not understood clearly you most certainly have a muddled vision of the sutric text and its explanations. But since these gateways to the dharma for the conversion of others from within the dream are also furnished with the enlightenment to the original mind, they then become gateways to the dharma in the sense of making use of this underlying truth. By accepting that the teachings from within the dream are underlined by an enlightened mind, then the forty-two years of gateways to the dharma that were an expedient means for the instruction of those people within the dream, were also governed by the enlightened mind of the Sutra on the Lotus Flower of the Utterness of the Dharma, otherwise the dharma would be non existent. This is what is referred to as clearing away the provisional teachings so as to arrive at the Dharma Flower Sutra. In the same way as all the running streams flow into the great sea.

In as much as the mind and the dharma of the Buddha is utterness as well as the mind and the dharmas (things) of sentient beings is also utterness and that both these two utternesses are what make our minds work, so that outside of mind dharmas (things) do not exist at all. One's own mind, the self existing fundamental pure mind and the fundamental make up of mind are the three properties of the triple body of the Tathâgata of the original enlightenment in our own bodies. This is expounded in the sutra when it says, "Such an appearance [the corresponding body of the Tathâgata], such a nature [the reward body of the Tathâgata], such a reality [the dharma body of the Tathâgata]..." This phrase is referred to as the three such qualities. These three such qualities in the sense that they imply the Tathâgata of the original enlightenment which means that the ten directions of the dharma realm become the person and his reality, also the ten directions of the dharma realm become the self existing fundamental pure mind and the ten directions of the realms of dharmas (things) become the personal fine features of the Tathâgata as well. It is on this account that what my role really amounts to is the person and the reality of the triple body of the Tathâgata of the original enlightenment. When it is expounded that the One Buddha whose virtuous function is surrounded on all sides by the realms of dharmas (things), then all those dharmas (things) are all the dharma of the Buddha. So that connected to his throne are all the monks, nuns, male and female devotees, devas, dragons, yasha, kendatsuba, ashura, kinnara and magoraka, animals and even people outside the Buddha teaching without overlooking a single being. All of them everywhere are scattered and hindered by wild fantasies, hateful resentments and prejudiced thinking, but by going back to the wakefulness of the original enlightenment they can all attain the path of the Buddha. The Buddha is like a human who is awake and a sentient being is like being a person in a dream. Therefore when one wakes up from the aimlessness of the reverie about living and dying and turns towards the wakefulness of the original enlightenment; this is what is called opening up our inherent Buddha not being separate from our persons just as they are, or the impartiality of the all embracing wisdom, or that it is the dharma that does not differentiate or even we can say that everything attains to the path of the Buddha. Nevertheless, there is only one gateway to the dharma. Even though the Buddha lands of the ten directions which mean that each and every individual being and item with their respective one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces; all may be divergently separated from each other, it is the dharma of the one vehicle that pervades them all. By the fact that there are no expedient means then there can be no discrimination between one being or thing and another. Even though the sentient beings of the ten realms of the dharmas (things) are in various ways different from each other, since their real aspect has only one fundamental principle there cannot be any differentiation between them. In spite of the hundred realms of dharmas (things), the thousand such qualities and the three existential spaces which are all distinct from each other, but because each of the ten realms of the dharmas (things) are mutually endowed with the same ten realms, there cannot be any discrimination between them. Be that as it may dreams, wakefulness, absurdity and reality are separate concepts and therefore different, but because they are all dharmas (things) of the oneness of mind they cannot be picked out separately. Even though the past, present and future are seen as three, but because of the fundamental basis of the ever present now of the mind they cannot be set apart from each other.

The language in all the provisional sutras is worded with allusions to what is familiar to us in the dream, such as fans and trees. But the words that reveal the awakened mind of the Dharma Flower Sutra are more likely to refer to the moon and the wind. Because in terms of the awakened the mind of the original enlightenment, the light of the disk of the full moon shines through the darkness of our unenlightenment and the wind of the profound understanding of the wisdom of the real aspect blows away the dust of our wild delusions.

The reason for this is that by means of the wording of the dream such as holding up a fan so as to cover the layers of mountains that obscure the full moon which is used as a metaphor for enlightenment, or a tree that is blown by the winds of mind, people can be made aware of the words 'moon' and 'wind' that stem from a mind that is awakened. In this way their lingering memories of the dream are dispersed and they can be turned back towards the wakefulness of the original mind. This is why we have in the Universal Desistance from Troublesome Worries in order to See Clearly, "A simile can be made by raising a fan to show how the moon is hidden by layers of mountains and we can teach people that trees are swayed by the wind because of the inexhaustibility of the universal void." In the Broad Elucidation to Support the Practice of the Universal Desistance from Troublesome Worries in order to See Clearly it says, "the real eternal essence of the moon is hidden by mountains of troublesome worries, because these troublesome worries are not merely one so that they are referred to as being in layers. When the transforming breeze of the teaching of the perfect sound comes to a standstill it returns to its own silence. The intrinsic nature of silence is without hindrance and is compatible to the universal void. The four important principles on which the practitioner relies are, (i) his practicing according to the Dharma and not according to the person who expounds it, (ii) to practice according to its intended significance and not just the words that are used, (iii) to practice according to his inner wisdom and not according to his acquired knowledge, and (iv) to practice according to the real aspect of the middle way as it is expounded in the Sutra on the Inexhaustible Significance, these four are all like the fan and the tree until the practitioner is able to understand the moon and the wind." The doubled layers of overloading troublesome worries are like mountains whose eighty-four thousand particles of dust which pollute both body and mind as well as obscuring the moonlike disk of the original enlightenment of the self existing fundamental pure mind. By teaching sutras and making discourses that use words and concepts like the fan and the tree, they become the holy doctrines that make people perceive and become aware of the original enlightenment as being something like the moon and the wind. Simply because the texts and the words are metaphors like the fan and the tree. This explanation I have just given you is one that is a superficial gloss and does not entail the whole meaning.

The Utterness of the Dharma, which is, like the moon. Its perfect circle is like the self existing pure mind and that the wind is like the discernment of our own minds that teaches us to know the wisdom that is called the Sutra on the Lotus Flower of the Utterness of the Dharma. It is on this account that the Explanatory Notes on the Significance of the Dharma Flower says, "In the search for the innermost of what sounds and materiality really are, we arrived at the ultimate universal basis of their being, which is devoid of any characteristics." This innermost concept is like the fan and the tree in the sutras and discourses that were discussed from within the dream. The ultimate universal basis being without any trace of characteristics is like the moon and the wind, which is the silence and illumination of the awakening of our persons to the self-existing fundamental pure mind. This reward of ultimate bliss for the individual sentient beings of the ten directions of the realms of dharmas (things), combined with the objective reward for the abodes and terrains of the realms of dharmas (things) of the ten directions, becomes the one fundamental substance of the three bodies which are not separate from the one. The four terrains of, (i) where common mortals and the holy live together, (ii) the terrain of expedient means, (iii) the terrain of the real reward, and (iv) the terrain of eternal silence and illumination are not separate from each other nor are they separate places. They are the dharma realms of the one Buddha. When the ten realms of dharmas (things) become a single entity which is the dharma body, when the ten realms become mind they are the reward body as the substantiation of the Buddha wisdom and when the ten realms take on a form they become the corresponding body. There is no Buddha outside the ten realms of dharmas (things). Apart from the Buddha there are no ten realms of dharmas (things) other than the non-duality of subjectivity and its dependent environment or the non-duality of the body and its dependent terrain. By becoming the person and the substance of the one Buddha is said to be the terrain of silence and illumination. Because of this it is referred to as the ultimate intrinsicality which is devoid of characteristics. By being separate from any indication of the transiency of either coming into existence or ceasing to be, it is therefore devoid of characteristics. The nature of the dharma is the final ground of the unfathomable abyss of recondite meaning. Hence the expression of it being the ultimate intrinsicality. This culmination of the bliss of silence and illumination of the ultimate intrinsicality is devoid of characteristics and is the immaculately pure essence of mind which is outside the stream of transmigratory suffering. This is also the property of all sentient beings. By giving this a name it is the calyx which is the very heart of the Lotus Flower of the Utterness of the Dharma.

As a result, by stating that there is no single dharma that stands apart from those of mind. This is called the thorough perception and understanding that all dharmas (things) are the Buddha dharma. The essential element of the duality of life and death is that they are inherently the dream of living and dying which is no more than a fantasy or a wild idea. But due to an awareness of the original enlightenment we can see ourselves as the self existing fundamental pure mind which can neither have a beginning by coming into existence nor can it come to an end by dying. Then, is this not already being separated from the cycles of lives and deaths? Not to be incinerated by the conflagration at the end of a kalpa. Not to be waterlogged and decompose in the waters of disaster. Not to be cut through by a sword or be shot by a bow and arrow. Or even enter a mustard seed without making it expand. The dharma mind does not shrink. Even when it fills the spaceless void, the emptiness without space does not become wider, nor does the dharma of the mind become less. The opposite of good is said to be evil and the opposite of evil is said to be good. This separation from either good or evil is described as being beyond description. Outside this indescribability of good and evil there can be no existence of mind. Because it is here where all the unreasonably absurd verbosity of mental activity concerning good and evil, purity and defilement, the common mortal and the holy man, both heaven and earth as well as what is great and small or the four directions of east, west, south and north including both the above and below cease to exist. Even by taking into account and discerning what is mind in terms of words and language, discrimination outside the mind does not exist. Even if there are words that do not discriminate then they are said to be the expression of a voice that echoes thoughts that are in the mind. By being a common mortal my mind is bewildered through my lack of understanding and I am not enlightened. The name of what the Buddha reveals, what he is enlightened to, is called the reaches of the mind of the Buddha. The reaches of the mind of the Buddha penetrate into every single dharma without any hindrance. Yet these reaches of the mind that are free from resistance are also in the possession of the minds of each and every sentient being. Because even foxes and racoons to some extent reveal their ability to see into things, every mind is to some degree enlightened. So that a single dharma from the mind can be extended until it arrives at its existential space of abode and terrain. This is the content of what was taught during a lifetime of holy teaching and is talked of as the eighty-four thousand repositories of the dharma for dealing with the eighty-four thousand sorts of troublesome worries of humankind [In ancient India the number of particles in the human body was said to be 84,000]. These are gateways to the dharma that exist everywhere throughout the human body. In that case then, these eighty-four thousand repositories of the dharma are recorded chronicles of my person as an individual. My mind is pregnant with and holds to with care these eighty-four thousand repositories of the dharma. So that due to the mind that is within my person, it would be a mental disorientation to even think of seeking the Buddha, the dharma or the immaculate terrain outside of myself. According to the karmic circumstances this mind encounters, it comes up with and creates good or evil dharmas (things). In the Flower Garland Sutra it says, "The mind is like a skilful master of painting who depicts the different sorts of five aggregates which obscure our original enlightenment such as, (i) our bodily forms and (ii) the sensations they receive which make them (iii) conceive a world around them that gives them (iv) the volition to act which in turn brings about (v) distorted ways of seeing things. There is not a single dharma throughout all the existential spaces that is not brought about by mind. Even the nature of the Buddha is just the same as mind and the nature of sentient beings is just the same as the Buddha. The three realms where sentient beings have, (i) organs of sense as well as desires and needs, (ii) where there is real physical contact and (iii) a realm where there is only mental activity, are only the oneness of mind. There are no separate dharmas (things) outside of mind and out of these three realms; there are no discrepancies between mind, the Buddha and sentient beings." In the Sutra on the Incalculable Significance it states, "The incalculable significance is born out of the single dharma which is devoid of characteristics and therefore does not characterize." This single dharma which is devoid of characteristics and which does not characterize is the one instant of mind of all sentient beings. The Textual Explanation of the Dharma Flower makes this clearer by saying, "Because the transiency of coming into being and ceasing to exist has no distinctive mark it is said to be devoid of characteristics. Since it is separate from the two nirvanas of those people of the two vehicles who have a remainder of karma to fulfill and those whose remains of karma are completely ended, it is ascribed as being devoid of characteristics." Mind by being imponderably indescribable becomes the pivotal implication of the sutras and discourses and our enlightenment to and our understanding of this oneness of mind is called the Tathâgata. After we have become aware of this as well as understanding it, the ten realms of dharmas (things) become our persons, our minds and the way we look. The Originally Enlightened Tathâgata becomes our persons and our minds, but when we are unable to comprehend this it is called unenlightenment. The word unenlightenment is to be read in the sense of the absence of an illuminating quality or that we do not experience mind just as it is as being light. When we become enlightened we then understand mind as being the nature of the dharma. Thus we have both unenlightenment and the nature of the dharma as separate names for the oneness of mind and even though these concepts are different there is only the single oneness of mind. Therefore it is not our unenlightenment that we have to cut off, otherwise by cutting off the lack of clarity of the mind in the dream we could lose the mind of the enlightenment. Generally speaking the intended meaning of the all-inclusive teaching is that there is no need to cut off the tiniest hair of unenlightenment, since it is said that all dharmas (things) are those of the dharma of the Buddha.

In the Dharma Flower Sutra it says, "such an appearance" [The thirty-two marks and eight signs of the physical bodies of all sentient beings are the corresponding body of the Originally Enlightened Tathâgata], "such a nature" [The self existing fundamental pure mind of all sentient beings is the reward body of the Originally Enlightened Tathâgata], "such a fundamental substance" [The person and the reality of all sentient beings is the dharma body of the Originally Enlightened Tathâgata]. After these three such qualities come seven more such qualities which all together add up to ten. These ten such qualities become the ten realms of dharmas (things). These ten realms of dharmas (things) become the eighty-four thousand gateways to the dharma that emerge from the mind of one person alone. [In the teaching of Shakyamuni the human body is made up of eighty-four thousand basic elements and the reward or wisdom body of a Buddha has the same number of distinguishing marks and signs. There are also eighty-four thousand Buddha teachings as a cure for the eighty-four thousand mortal sufferings]. In this way we can take one person as an example of the sameness of all sentient beings. All the Buddhas of the past, present and future, after collating the layers of profundities of their teachings ratified the texts by putting their seal of infallible judgment upon them. The judgment of the Buddha is the seal that is the sign of the real aspect (myôhô renge kyô). To put one's seal upon something is another way of saying 'to decide'. All those sutras that do not have the seal of their being the real aspect are those texts that were not ratified and are completely devoid of the real Buddha. By there being no real Buddha they become texts from out of the midst of the dream. Therefore, there cannot be an immaculate terrain. Even though there are ten of the ten realms of dharmas (things) there is only one sequence of the ten such qualities. In the same way as there are uncountable reflections of the moon on water but only one in the open sky. Because the ten such qualities of the nine realms of dharmas (things) are the ten such qualities from out of the midst of the dream they are like the reflection of the moon in water. But because the ten such qualities of the realm of the Buddha dharma are those of being enlightened to the original enlightenment they are like the moon in the open sky. The reason being that when the one sequence of the ten such qualities was revealed, the nine realms of dharmas (things) were still like the moon reflected in the water. Yet without leaving a single item out. Everything came to light simultaneously as a single wholeness of the fundamental substance and its bodily function of the one embodiment of the Buddha. Each of the ten realms of dharmas (things) by being mutually endowed with the same ten realms, so that the sentient beings of these ten realms are all equal, regardless as to whether they belong to the original moon in the open sky and are those that are its reflection in the water, each and every individual is fully furnished with the mutual possession of the ten realms of dharmas (things) without any deficiency whatsoever. Therefore, in the ten such qualities there is an ultimate superlative that equally runs from the original to the final of the other ten such qualities without discrimination. The 'original' are the ten such qualities of ordinary sentient beings, the 'final' are the ten such qualities of All the Buddhas. Since All the Buddhas emerge from the one instant of thought of the minds of sentient beings, sentient beings are the origin, whereas All the Buddhas are the finality. Just as it says in the Sutra, "All three of these realms, (i) where sentient beings have organs of sense as well as desires and needs, (ii) where there is real physical contact and (iii) a realm where there is only mental activity, are where I happen to be and all the sentient beings everywhere within them are my children." The Buddha Shakyamuni's attainment to the path was in order to be able to convert others so that while he was proclaiming his attainment to the path, in the dimension of time and space of the dream of living and dying, he was also able to expound his awakening to the original enlightenment. This is expounded in the Chapter on the Life Span of the Tathâgata as the father being a metaphor for wisdom and discernment and the children as a simile for foolish stupidity. Even though sentient beings may be themselves the ten such qualities of the original enlightenment, but in an instant the slumber of unenlightenment can overturn their minds, making them slip into the dream of living and dying, and forgetting their universal foundation of the original enlightenment. As clearly as a parting combed in black oiled hair they will witness a hollow dream about past, present and future. Since it is the Buddha who is enlightened, he enters into their dream so as to shake up the dreamers with his wisdom. In the dream the Buddha takes on the role of being a parent and we, who are within the dream, are the children. It is in this sense that the Buddha said, "All sentient beings everywhere are my children." If we think about and understand the reasoning that even though, it is we who are the sentient beings and All the Buddhas are the 'origin' [in the sense of there being 'such an appearance to such a requital, all these nine such qualities (nyoze) are equally the ultimate dimension of the real aspect of all dharmas (things). Here the word first must be understood as the original enlightenment.] But we are still father and child on account of the [finality which refers to the last of the other nine qualities'. This implies that since both father 'all the Buddhas' and the children, who are all sentient beings, by being originally enlightened can finally open up their inherent Buddha nature.] Therefore, in accordance with this we have to maintain that there is no difference between our own minds and that of the Buddha. When we wake up from the dream of living and dying we return to the awakening of the original enlightenment. This is what is referred to as becoming a Buddha not being separate from our persons just as they are. To become a Buddha, with our persons just as they are, refers to our heavenly nature and earthly bodies of who we are now. To be without troubles and obstacles is the fortune of sentient beings which is also a fruition and reward surreptitiously added.

Taking this into consideration, the time when we are dreaming is a metaphor for our minds being bewildered and when we are awake is another metaphor for our minds being enlightened. Now, if we are awakened and enlightened, we look back at a vacant dream which has no aftermath, but has left the mind so anguished that we become bathed in rivulets of sweat. But on being startled awake we find neither our person nor our home nor even our bed is without any difference from what it was, also they are all in the same place. Even though the mind may think and the eye may see both the unreality of the dream and the reality of being awakened as two separate facts, there is only the one place where they occur and only one person who is in possession of both the real and the unreal. You must be aware that there is no discrepancy between our own minds that see the dream about living and dying, which belongs to the nine realms of dharmas (things), and the enlightened mind of the dharma realm of the Buddha that dwells in eternity. There is no change as to where the dream about living and dying in the nine realms of dharmas (things) or as to where the awakening to the eternally abiding Buddha realm takes place, nor is there any differentiation between the mind and the dharmas (things) it perceives and even though there is no change of place as to where these events happen, all dreams are vacant happenings and all awakenings are that which is real. In the Universal Desistance from Troublesome Worries in order to See Clearly it says, "A long time ago there was a person called Sôshû [Zhuangzi, c.fourth century BCE] who dreamed that he had turned into a butterfly for a period of a hundred years during which he suffered a great deal and had very little joy. Bathed in perspiration, he woke up with a start to find that he had not become a butterfly, nor had a hundred years gone by. Both the suffering ceased to exist as well as the joy. All of this turned out to be a vacant happening and simply a wild fantasy." In the Broad Elucidation of the Desistance from Troublesome Worries of Myôraku, "The butterfly in the dream is analogous to unenlightenment and the hundred years are a simile for the one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces. Therefore, if the one instant of thought is non existent then so is the butterfly, and as the three thousand existential spaces do not exist then the non existent years cannot accumulate." This explanation is evidence of a person having opened up his inherent Buddha nature with his person just as it is. When Sôshû became a butterfly in the dream it was not different from Sôshû himself. When he woke up and discovered he was no longer a butterfly it was not another Sôshû. When I think of myself as a common mortal bound to the cycle of living and dying then I have become like the butterfly in the dream with a distorted way of seeing things and a foolish way of thinking. But when I think of myself as the original awakened Tathâgata, I become like the original Sôshû whose becoming a Buddha was not separate from his person just as it was. It was not by having the body of a butterfly that he did not become a Buddha, but by thinking that he was a butterfly which is nonsense and furthermore, there is no mention of his becoming a Buddha. The real story of Sôshû is somewhat different. If you understand that being unenlightened is like the butterfly of the dream, then our misguided thinking is still like the dream we had yesterday which being without any fundamental essence or substance was just a delusion. Anybody can believe in and accept the vacant dream about living and dying, but why do people have doubts about the infinite oneness of the Buddha nature? This is pointed out in the Universal Desistance from Troublesome Worries in order to See Clearly where it says, "The origin of our perplexity through being misled by the appearances that stem from our unenlightenment is in actual fact the dharma nature, because when we become misled by appearances and get confused, the dharma nature itself becomes our unenlightenment which brings about all the reversals and inversions of what is good and not good. Just as when the icy cold comes along the water freezes andturns into ice, also it is like when we fall asleep all sorts of dreams arise due to the mind's cogitations. But in actual fact, all our mad delusions are nothing but the dharma nature and you must bear in mind that they are not different and yet they are not one. Even though the topsy-turvy appearance and disappearances of phenomena and events are like the illusory wheel of fire, you should not take them for real but believe that they are only the dharma nature. The appearance of phenomena and events are the appearances of the dharma nature, the disappearances of phenomena and events are the disappearances of the dharma nature. By bearing this in mind it can be said that nothing comes into being nor does anything cease to exist; they are all delusions. Whatever one points to wherever it may be, it is only a delusion which is really the dharma nature. It is on account of the dharma nature that our dharma nature is pulled along on a leash, it is also due to the dharma nature that we bear the instant of the dharma nature in mind. The dharma nature is eternity and without the dharma nature time does not exist." Thus we have in the dharma nature whose intrinsicality is devoid of even the tiniest flash of time, then suddenly we are bewildered by a dream like that of the butterfly which our unenlightenment makes us think it is really happening.

In the ninth fascicle of the Universal Desistance from Troublesome Worries in order to See Clearly it says, "For instance, whilst the dharma of slumber overshadows the one instant of mind, it is like living in a dream about what goes on in uncountable eons." The text continues until, "What would be the next stage after the suchness of the silence and extinction of Nirvana. All beings are inseparable from the infinite oneness of the Buddha nature." Then the text continues until, "Moreover would they not be extinguished into the nothingness of Nirvana? What is the next stage after high, low, universal or lesser. Even though it is not possible to discuss as to whether something that does not come into being does not exist, but on account of the fact that the causes and karmic circumstances do exist we have to talk about it. The doctrine of the chain of ten of the causes and karmic circumstances that run through the whole of sentient existence which are (i) a fundamental unenlightenment which leads to the (ii) dispositions that are inherited from former lives, (iii) the first consciousness after conception takes place in the womb, (iv) body and mind evolving in the womb, (v) the five organs of sense and the functioning of mind, (vi) contact with the outside world, (vii) receptivity or budding intelligence and discrimination from six to seven years onwards, (viii) thirst, desire for love at the age of puberty, (ix) the urge of sensuous existence that forms (x) the substance of future karma. This chain represents the causes of one's being alive. All this is rather like planting the seed of a tree as an expedient means to describe the emptiness without space. It only discusses all the stages that bring about our lives." The requital on subjectivity and dependent environment of the ten realms of dharmas (things) is the dharma body of the Buddha, one has to be thoroughly acquainted with and completely understand that the one fundamental substance is the virtue of the three bodies of the Tathâgata and that all dharmas (things) are those of the dharma of the Buddha. This is called the inseparability of the Buddha nature from its name and ideograms Nam myôhô renge kyô. Since the inseparability of the Buddha nature from its name and ideograms has the implication of becoming a Buddha is not separate from our persons just as we are, then this is an immediate all-inclusive teaching which does not pass from one stage to the next. This is why it says in the Explanatory Notes on the Recondite Significance of the Dharma Flower, "Many scholars of the final era of the dharma of Shakyamuni are in the habit of disputing and quarreling in order to break down the arguments of the sutras and discourses as simply being an expedient means. Even though the water has become freezing cold, if you do not drink it then how can you know it to be so?" Tendai argues this point by saying, "The Sutra on the Benevolent King and the Flower Garland Sutra are a means to enmesh sentient beings into, and save them through the practice of the dharma through gradual ascending stages. The way to dispute and overcome refutations is through the Sutra on the Universal Wisdom that Carries Beings over to the Shore of Nirvana and the Universal Discourse on the Wisdom that Carries Beings over to the Shore of Nirvana." The Sutra of the Benevolent King, the Garland Flower Sutra, the Sutra on the Universal Wisdom that Carries Beings over to the Shore of Nirvana as well as Ryûju's Universal Discourse are all sutras and discourses that belong to the three receptacles or the interrelated teachings or the particular teaching which were taught either directly or gradually or esoterically or in various ways, all of which came prior to the Dharma Flower Sutra. Now, since the Dharma Flower transcends the provisional doctrines mentioned above, by being all-inclusive and speedily brings people to become Buddhas through pointing out the fact that mind, sentient beings and the Buddha are all present in a single instant of mind outside of which there is nothing. At least a practitioner of lesser propensities within even a single lifetime can arrive at the stage of being enlightened to utterness [myôgaku]. If we go by the principle that the singularity of one cannot be separated from the rest of the universe, then each one of the fifty-two stages in the process of becoming a Buddha is fully endowed with the other fifty-one because they are all inserted in the oneness of a lifetime. If it is thus for those people of lesser propensities, then why should it not be so for those of either medium or superior capabilities? There are no other dharmas (things) outside the real aspect of all dharmas (things), which is Myôhô renge kyô and because the real aspect has no consecutive order there cannot be any stages. Talking in general terms, the lifetime of holy teaching was due to the one person who knew the fundamental substance of our persons completely and thoroughly. This person who is enlightened to all this is called the Buddha; the person who is confused about all this is a sentient being. This is implied in the text of the Flower Garland Sutra.

In the sixth fascicle of the Broad Elucidation of Myôraku it says, "We know that this body is a detailed emulation of heaven and earth, we know the head to be round in the same way as the heavens and our feet are square just like the earth. Inside our bodies there are hollows and cavities which conform to empty space. The warmth of the stomach is modeled after the spring and summer. The rigid toughness of the back is a metaphor for autumn and winter. The four limbs are patterned after the four seasons. The twelve major joints are likened to the twelve months and the three hundred and sixty lesser joints are comparable to the three hundred and sixty days of the lunar year. The breath that passes in and out of the nose is modeled after the wind that blows down from the mountains, over the marshes and into the valleys and dales. The respiration that passes through the mouth is like the wind blowing through empty space. The eyes are like the sun and moon; their opening and shutting can be compared to day and night. The hair on the head is modeled after the heavenly bodies in the sky. The eyebrows are fashioned after the constellations around the Pole Star. The veins and arteries are like the rivers and estuaries. The bones epitomize precious minerals and rocks. The skin and flesh are like the soil on the ground. Hair on the body can be like the grass and woods. The heart, lungs, spleen, liver and kidneys are analogous to the Pole Star, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in the heavens or the Five Great Peaks of China on Earth [Taisan (Taishan in Shandong), Kôsan (Hengshan in Hunan), Kasan (Huashan in Shanxi), Kôsan (Hengshan in Hebei) and Sûsan (Songshan in Henan)]. What is contained within yin and yang can be correlated with the five elements of water, fire, wood, metal and earth. What is contained in the external world can be seen as a parallel to the five constant rules of conduct which are benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and sincerity. What the world contains on the inside is comparable to the five components of the mind. These are the animus, anima, and mentation, will and supernatural powers. The cultivation of oneself in living according to established principles is in conformity with the five Confucian virtues of being good-natured, respectful, unwasteful and polite. To control evil there are five befitting punishments. These are to carve a large mark on the forehead and smear it with ink, cutting off the nose, amputation of the feet, castration and the death penalty. (These five punishments are to cause the culprits varying degrees of pain. Such painful castigations amount to three thousand but are still referred to as the five punishments). Those in control are the five regulators of the bodily functions. They are called Kobo, Shukyu, Jokushu, Genmei and Kôdo. This is quoted from the eighth fascicle of the Compendium of Natural History. Ascending to the heavens they are called the five clouds. On transformation they become the five dragons. The heart becomes the Vermilion Sparrow, the liver becomes the Cerulean Dragon, the lungs become the White Tiger and the spleen becomes the Arched Battle Formation."

Myôraku then goes on to say, "The five notes of the musical scale, which correspond to earth, wind, wood, fire and water. The five sciences of India, grammar and composition, the arts and mathematics, logic and philosophy as well as the six Confucian arts of propriety, music, archery, charioteering and numerology all are derived from this. Furthermore, you should get to know the teachings of governing the inner self. You must be thoroughly aware that by becoming a universal sovereign inwardly, you dwell in a hundred different homes, on the outside the five regulators of the bodily functions await in attendance like guardsmen. The lungs become the minister of war, the liver becomes the minister of public instruction, the spleen becomes the minister of public works, the four limbs become the filial populace (those on the left control the way we live and the limbs on the right keep a record of what we do with our lives). Our human life and destiny is the supreme commander, until we arrive at the navel, which is the Supreme First Prince. The meditational gateways to the dharma make this doctrinal point abundantly clear." If you examine in detail all that goes into the make up of our human bodies, then this is what they are. However it is on account of this indestructible vajra body of ours that we misconstrue ourselves to be transient with our coming into being and being extinguished. This is explained by the metaphor of Sôshû becoming a butterfly in his dream. The five elements are earth, water, fire, wind and relativity [kû]. The seeds of the universe are these five; whether they be referred to as the five aggregates or the five shadows that smother our awakening to the original enlightenment, (i) bodily form, matter, the physical form related to the five organs of sense, (ii) reception of sensations and feelings, the functioning of the mind in connection with affairs and things, (iii) conception, thought discerning, the function of the mind in distinguishing, (iv) the functioning of the mind in its process with regards to likes and dislikes, good and evil, etc., etc., (v) the mental faculty that makes us think of who we are on account of what we have stored in our minds. Or the five precepts of the monks of the individual vehicle of not killing, not stealing, not having sex, not to make up stories and not to drink alcohol. In these we have the five Confucianist constant rules of conduct, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and sincerity and even the directions of north, south, east and west and the centre. In addition to these there are the fivefold wisdom of the Shingon school, (i) the wisdom of knowing that the dharma realm consists of water, fire, wind, relativity and knowledge, (ii) the wisdom of knowing that the manifestations of dharmas (things) are like reflections in a mirror, (iii) the wisdom of perceiving that all dharmas (things) are fundamentally without distinction and are equal, (iv) the wisdom of the exquisitely ineffable perception that sees the propensities of all beings and the ability to destroy their doubts and (v) the wisdom of continually being able to create good karma for oneself and for others. Also there are the five doctrinal periods of the teachings that Shakyamuni taught throughout his lifetime which are, (i) the period of the Flower Garland Sutra, (ii) that of the Three Receptacles, (iii) the stage of the Interrelated Teachings, (iv) the Wisdom [Prajñâ] Teachings and finally (v) the period of the Dharma Flower and Nirvana Sutras. This fivesome implies only one thing but there are various explanations throughout the sutras also the doctrines outside and within the Buddha teaching that have different names and designations for it. With the present Sutra those other fivesomes are cleared away, in the center of the minds of all sentient beings there are the five Buddha natures, which mean that (i) the Buddha nature is a direct cause for enlightenment. All things, all beings and all events are inherently and infinitely endowed with this fundamental Buddha nature, (ii) the enlightening or revealing cause which is associated with the Buddha wisdom, (iii) the revelation of the Buddha nature that is brought about by the karmic circumstances of practice, (iv) the fruition of the Buddha nature which is enlightenment and (v) the fruition of enlightenment which is the substantiation of Nirvana. These five are explained as being the seeds of the Tathâgatas of the five wisdoms. These are the five ideograms for Myôhô renge kyô, the Sutra on the Lotus Flower of the Utterness of the Dharma. The make up of the fundamental substance of the human body consists of those five ideograms which are originally existing and eternal, they are the Tathâgata of the Original Enlightenment and also the ten such qualities. This is what is referred to as 'only between Buddha and Buddha can the real aspect of all dharmas (things) indeed be exhaustively fathomed'. This is a gateway to the dharma, the vertical threads of the sutra through which the threads of the simultaneousness of cause and effect of the utterness of all existence are woven, which even the bodhisattvas, who will never give up practicing or the people of the two vehicles who have attained to the superlative fruition, know very little about. Yet this is known to the ordinary person with the initial determination to seek enlightenment through the immediate and all-inclusive teaching. This is because he has become a Buddha with his person just as it is and that its fundamental substance is the indestructible vajra. This is something you should understand very clearly.

If the heavens were to fall apart my person would break into pieces also, if the earth were to split wide open then my person would do the same. If the earth, water, fire and wind were to be annihilated then my person would also be extinguished. However, even though the five universal elements of earth, water, fire, wind and relativity [kû] are subject to the temporal changes of past, present and future, these five universal elements do not change at all. Although the correct, formal and final phases of the dharma are three separate periods, these five universal elements by being the basic building blocks of existence are devoid of any growth, decline, change or modification. It says in the eighteenth fascicle of the Textual Explanation of the Dharma Flower which deals with the Chapter on the Metaphor of the Medicinal Herbs, that the principle of the all-inclusive teaching is the great earth and it is the all-inclusive teaching that is the rain from the sky which brings about our enlightenment. [It is in the Chapter on the Medicinal Herbs where a comparison is made between the five vehicles to the three plants and the two trees. Out of the three plants of three different heights of which the lowest represents the vehicle for men and devas, the middle height stands for the vehicle of the people of the two vehicles and the tallest for the vehicle of the bodhisattvas of the doctrine of the three receptacles, then there are the two trees of which the less tall represents the bodhisattvas of the interrelated teachings and the taller signifies the vehicle for the bodhisattvas of the particular teaching and the tallest signifies the vehicle for the bodhisattvas of the all-inclusive teaching.] These plants and trees grow out of the great earth of the principle of the all-inclusive teaching and are nourished by the rain from the sky of the all-inclusive teaching that directly brings about enlightenment. Which makes those plants and trees of the five vehicles flourish. Because the hearers of the voice of the Buddha and those who were awakened by themselves due to karmic affinities as well as the bodhisattvas of the particular, the interrelated and the three receptacles teachings unwittingly assumed that their well being was due to the sky and the earth, the Buddha drew the comparison between them and plants and trees. But because of the kindness of the Buddha, these people are alluded to as insensitive plants. Ever since the outset of the Dharma Flower, the plants and the trees that represent the people of the five vehicles got to know the theory of the all-inclusive teaching which is their mother and their father who bring about an enlightenment, directly.

Because those, which grow on the one and only earth, are those who know a mother's love and those that are moistened by the single rain know the loving kindness of a father. This is the intended meaning of the Fifth Chapter on the Metaphor of the Medicinal Herbs.

Prior to a period of time that would be equal to the amount of grains of dust that go into the making of five hundred kalpas when the Tathâgata Shakyamuni could only have been a common mortal, he became aware that his person consisted of earth, water, fire, wind and relativity [kû]. At that every instant just where he was seated his inherent enlightenment was clearly revealed. Later in order to convert others he got himself born into the world. From one consecutive lifetime after another he attained to the path and in every place he was born he revealed the eight aspects of the lifetime of a Buddha [(i) the descent from the Tosotsu [Tushita] heaven, (ii) entry into the womb, (iii) birth, (iv) leaving home, (v) the subjection of evil, (vi) the attainment to perfect enlightenment, (vii) preaching the dharma and (viii) entering Nirvana]. Each time he was born into a royal palace and after attaining to the path under the bodhi tree, he knew by insight that he must set about finding a way to make sentient beings become Buddhas. For forty years he led people on through the benefit of teachings that were an expedient means. Afterwards he renounced all the sutras that were an expedient means and revealed the theoretical discourse of the seeds of the Tathâgata of the fivefold wisdom of Myôhô renge kyô, the Sutra on the Lotus Flower of the Utterness of the Dharma, which rounded off the forty-two years of sutras that were an expedient means. Then he was able to introduce the single Buddha vehicle. This is referred to as the dharma of the oneness of humankind and the original Buddha. It is the dharma that concerns just one person. Without further embroidery by other people the correct text of Nam Myôhô Renge Kyô was a drawn up, it was ratified by having a seal pressed down upon it. Then when the text of the doctrinal inheritance of all the Buddhas of the past, present and future that was passed on from the original Shakyamuni, throughout the empty space that involves three thousands of three hundred millions of the nayuta abodes and terrains, so that these abodes and terrains were crammed so full of this text that finally it was stroking the crowns of the heads of many of the bodhisattvas. The time that was indicated was the recently arrived period of the final phase of the dharma in order that sentient beings such as we should definitely be made to hear its message. On account of the fact that the letter that was handed down from the Buddha to be conferred upon the sentient beings of the final era. The same words of the text were then ceremoniously repeated three times over. Thereupon an inexhaustible number of bodhisattvas bowed and prostrated themselves and on their repetition of the same words thrice, the Buddha graciously replied, "you are not less than I." The Buddha having set his mind at rest returned to the capital of the original enlightenment. All the Buddhas of the past, present and future expounded the teaching of how the ceremony was carried out, it was a document that had exactly the same wording and indicated that it was to be handed down in the final era of the dharma of Shakyamuni. Indeed, the letter handed down was apparently the textual proof of the doctrinal inheritance that pointed toward the fifth five hundred years period as being the time when sentient beings must become Buddhas through reciting Nam Myôhô renge kyô, the consecration and founding of our life on the Sutra on the Lotus Flower of the Utterness of the Dharma.

It is expounded and established in the Chapter on Practicing with Peace and Joy that in the present time of the final phase of the dharma of Shakyamuni, any common mortal who has made up his mind to become enlightened through observing the practice of the Dharma Flower Sutra will be able to become a Buddha. They will do the three practices for the karma of the body, the mouth and that of the mind in peace and joy. Also they will practice with the same peace and joy of holding to their universal vow for the conversion of others as well as the wish that the dharma shall not become extinct in the time of the final age which was to come. This is the period that is at hand. Furthermore, there is the foretold topic (of the self received reward body that is used by the Tathâgata of the primordial infinity of the original beginning who is Nichiren Daishônin who is also not separate from the dharma body of the Fundamental Object of Veneration of the oneness of the person and his dharma). Two references to this are discussed in the Chapter on the Original Practice of the Bodhisattva Yakuô and there are two more references in the Chapter on the Compelling Inspiration of the Bodhisattva Fugen. All these particular points that have been handed down refer to recent times. Other people have ignored the correct teaching and have attached their mundane commentaries to them. The testament inherited from all the Buddhas of the past, present and future has been entrusted to stupidly foolish minds who contradict it in such a way that should the dharma of the Buddha be brushed aside, then how desperately regretful and how lamentably sad it would be for All those Buddhas of the past, present and future. In the Sutra on the Buddha's Passing over to Nirvana it says, "It should be according to the dharma and not according to the person who teaches it." It is indeed painful and it is indeed sad that the scholars of the final era who through the work on their studies devastate the dharma of the Buddha. It is unhappily pointed out in the Broad Elucidation, "They listen to this all-inclusive teaching which brings about an immediate enlightenment without any reverence or giving it any weight, which is due to the arbitrary confusion of those who have studied the universal vehicle in recent years. It is needless to say that the inadequate, threadbare and muddied faith of the scholars of the formal period of the dharma, who gradually ceased to think about the all-inclusive teaching that brings about a direct enlightenment, even though its repository was full to overflowing. In the end their eyes were clouded over, they lived their lives in vain and died useless deaths, so that in the long run, what was all their suffering about?" In the fourth fascicle of the same work it goes on to say, "Apparently the fundamental common mortal is sustained by the all-embracing teaching that directly brings about enlightenment. How could it be that the Buddha did not intend to benefit ordinary people? Or the Buddha whose person is the dharma nature and who dwells in the dharma nature, how could he not expound to all the bodhisattvas this all-inclusive direct teaching that does not hold back the truth? Why did the Buddha reveal himself as an ordinary person to all those bodhisattvas who had cut off their troublesome worries and who were able to reveal something of their own Buddha nature? Also was it necessary for the Buddha to be manifest in the three realms (i) where sentient beings have organs of sense as well as desires, (ii) where there is real physical contact and the realms (iii) where there is only mental activity?’ The text continues until, ‘Since the oneness of mind is omnipresent this is the concept that we must cultivate and practice." What this amounts to is that if our individual minds and that of the Buddha are seen as a oneness, then we should be able to quickly become aware that our inherent Buddha nature is not separate from who we are now. This is why it says in the Broad Elucidation, "Since the mind of All the Buddhas, our individual minds and the mind of enlightenment are considered to be in no way different from each other, is the reason why all beings become Buddhas." This is what is referred to as contemplating the mind, so that even if we really become awakened to the fact that our own minds and that of the Buddha are the oneness of mind, then, if we have to be obstructed by the moment of death being pressed upon us, there will probably be no bad karma and if we are forced into the cycles of living and dying again they will probably be no more than a series of illusory thoughts. If we know that all dharmas (things) are the Buddha dharma, then there is no need for an acquaintance who would stimulate our minds to greater wisdom or give us instruction. Because in spite of what people may think, whatever people may say, whatever people may do or however they may behave or even the four respect inspiring forms of behaviour which are walking, standing, sitting and lying are all actions of a single fundamental substance that is at one with the mind of the Buddha whose person is without a blemish or hindrance and is free from all resistance. This is referred to as the personal practice of the Buddha who teaches the dharma in conformity with his own enlightenment. On the other hand by rejecting this independent freedom that is the personal practice of the Buddha who taught the dharma according to his own enlightenment, we would find ourselves living in a twisted mind of ignorant and deluded thoughts. By having turned our backs on the teaching and instruction of All the Buddhas of the past, present and future we pass from one lightlessness to the next in a long drawn out repudiation of the Buddha dharma which is a very sad state of affairs indeed. Now, at this moment if you are earnestly thinking of turning back in order to restore your original enlightenment, you should realize that outside of our own persons there is no way of becoming aware of our inherent Buddha nature.

Although the mirror of our minds and the mirror of the mind of the Buddha are one and the same, when we look at the back of the mirror we are unable to discern the principle of our own natures, this is why we call it unenlightenment. But the Tathâgata on looking at the front of the mirror can see what the principle of that nature is. This is because both enlightenment and unenlightenment are the oneness of the mirror. There is only one mirror of the mind but the difference is made through our looking at it with either common sense or stupidity. Whatever there may be at the back of the mirror there is nothing to prevent us from looking at the front of it. It is only the way we look at the mirror that brings about the duality of whether we see things in it or not. Since all life experiences are of a single fundamental substance, all our life experiences are a continuity without any barriers but there is the single dharma with its two implications. By practicing the gateways to the dharma that were taught by Shakyamuni for the salvation of others is comparable to looking at the back of the mirror. But the mirror of the contemplation of the mind of the Buddha who taught the dharma in conformity with his own enlightenment is like looking in front of the mirror. Whether it be at the time of the teachings for the salvation of others or the Buddha's teaching in accordance with his own enlightenment, there is no change in the singularity of the mirror that is the nature of our minds. The mirror is a metaphor for our persons. When we look in front of the mirror we become Buddhas, when we look at the back of it we are just sentient beings. Looking at the back of the mirror is a metaphor for getting rid of our evil natures, looking at the back of the mirror does not have the virtues of looking in front of it and is similar to the meritorious virtues of the teachings that were for the conversion of others and their incapability to reveal the Buddha nature in sentient beings.

What one attains or does not realize through either the teaching of the Buddha’s personal practice which he expounded in conformity with his own enlightenment or those doctrines that were taught for the conversion of others is a matter of the potential and effectiveness of the teachings in question. In the first fascicle of the Recondite Significance of the Dharma Flower it says, "If we are to give a definition of Sarubashitta's (Sarvasiddhârtha) [a former incarnation of Shakyamuni] drawing the bow of his royal ancestors to its fullest extent, it would be 'strength.' Then when the arrow went straight through seven iron drums, piercing through the iron range of mountains that surround Mount Sumeru and then right on through the disk of the earth until it was caught up in the wheel of water that supports the world, this would have to be defined as effect. Here we have the strength and the effect of the Buddha's own practice. The strength and effect of the teachings that are an expedient means are those whose strength and effect are as weak as the bows and arrows used by common mortals. Whatever karmic relationship you had in the past with the two wisdoms of the teachings that were for the conversion of others, (i) wisdom as an expedient means that the Buddha used in teaching his dharma in varying stages to the sentient beings of the nine realms of dharmas (things), (ii) the real wisdom of the underlying principle of all existence which is the ten such qualities and the ten realms of dharmas (things). However not only was this principle incapable of explaining the whole of existence [because the three existential realms had not yet been included]. Hence these doctrines generated a faith that was not deep and the remaining doubts about these teachings were never ending. [The above refers to the teachings that were for the transformation of others]. Now that you have a karmic relationship with the two wisdoms of the practice of the Tathâgata who taught his dharma in conformity with his own enlightenment, (i) the wisdom of being able to teach sentient beings according to their capacities in order to lead them to the truth and (ii) the wisdom of the real aspect of all dharmas (things) which is the ultimate truth of the Buddha teaching, you are decidedly within the karmically determined environment of the Buddha, your faith will increase on its way to become all-inclusive and utter. You will reject your fundamental bewilderments and your whole life will be free from the suffering of the alternations of living, dying and the six paths of sentient existence. However, not only will you have the two advantages of being a bodhisattva who is born with a body of flesh but also of having been born with a body of flesh that has attained the patience through the dharma to withstand the delusions of unenlightenment, furthermore you will have the two advantages of being both a bodhisattva whose entity is the dharma who has rejected a part of his troublesome worries and is able to reveal something of his Buddha nature but also you will be a bodhisattva who has finally attained an enlightenment that is universally equal. The merits of your conversion will be vastly beneficial, enriching and as broad as they are deep, after all this is the strength and effect of the Dharma Flower Sutra." [The above quotation refers to the personal practice of the Buddha who taught the dharma in conformity with his own enlightenment.]

Obviously, the one that has the greater potential and efficacy out of either the teaching of the personal practice of the Buddha or the doctrine that the Tathâgata expounded for the conversion of others is blatantly clear. You should think about this very carefully. The teaching of the personal practice of the Tathâgata is the quintessence of his intentions. The culmination of the karmically determined environment of the Buddha is the dharma gateway of the ten such qualities with each of the ten realms of dharmas (things) being mutually furnished with the same ten realms which become the simultaneousness of cause and effect of the ten realms of dharmas (things), their ten such qualities [and the three existential spaces where differentiation occurs]. Since this is decidedly the substantiation of what the Buddha told us. On our awakening of faith in the dharma realm we begin to understand the ten realms of dharmas (things) as our reality, these ten are also our minds and the way we look as well. You must believe that the originally enlightened Tathâgata is at the very centre of our own persons. The path of the all-inclusive utterness increases when the identity of the teachings of what the Buddha practised for himself and those which he used for the conversion of others become a perfect harmony. In the same way as the gem, the brilliance and its preciousness are the three virtues of a single jewel. Do not abandon your faith even for the shortest period of time, there is nothing lacking in the Buddha dharma whatsoever. You must also build up the joyful thought that you will become a Buddha within a single lifetime. To reject our fundamental bewilderment is to wake up from the slumber of the one instant of unclear thinking and return to the wakefulness of our original enlightenment. Then living, dying along with Nirvana will be left behind without a trace like yesterday's dream. The people who claim to have done the practices that free them from the alternating changes of living and dying are people who have passed over to be reborn into the ultimate bliss of the threefold terrain where the holy and ordinary people dwell alongside each other, the ultimate bliss of the terrain of expedient means or the ultimate bliss of the terrain of real reward. The people on those terrains who wish to become Buddhas cultivate themselves in the practices of the bodhisattva path, upon which they change the causes and replace the effects, thus giving them the possibility of making progress upwards through following one stage of practice after another. This patience of waiting for numerous kalpas in order to become a Buddha is referred to as 'the alternating changes of living and dying'. The lower stages that these people have already abandoned they refer to as death, the higher stages which are yet to be ascended are talked of as being life. So that on the immaculate terrains these people are also afflicted with the alternating changes of living and dying.

However when we ordinary people cultivate ourselves in the practice of the Dharma Flower Sutra in this impure and imperfect world of ours, there is the mutual possession of the ten realms of dharmas (things), since the dharma realm is of a single suchness, the alternating changes in the existence of the bodhisattvas of the immaculate terrains diminish. Because when ordinary people intensify their practice on the Buddha path, the alternating changes of living and dying are condensed to a single lifetime in which there exists the attainment to the way of the Buddha. Because the two kinds of bodhisattvas of the temporary gateway with human bodies who have not broken off their unenlightenment and those who have reached the forty-eighth or forty-ninth stages of the development of a bodhisattva into a Buddha and are also capable of perceiving the dharma nature, on account of the increase of their wisdom of the middle way, they are able to abandon their attachment to their lives that are made up of the alternating changes of living and dying. When those bodhisattvas whose entity is the dharma who at the same time have been able to reject a part of their troublesome worries and are also able to reveal something of their Buddha nature, relinquish the bodies they were born with, then they are able to dwell on the terrain of real reward. The bodhisattvas who are at the final stage of enlightenment are those who attained that stage of perfect and universal enlightenment [tôkaku]. However the effective benefits of the temporary gateway are either to become a bodhisattva of the provisional teachings who has not yet broken off his unenlightenment or a bodhisattva who has attained through the dharma the patience to withstand the delusions of unenlightenment. The effective benefits of the original gateway are either to become a bodhisattva whose entity is the dharma or a bodhisattva who is at the final stage before enlightenment. But now, through the temporary gateway being cleared away and the original gateway being replaced with the single teaching of the Utterness of the Dharma, then according to the intensity of how we ordinary people carry out its practice in this impure and imperfect world of ours, our practice then becomes the effective benefit of the immaculate terrain of the ten stages of bodhisattva development into a Buddha and that of the perfect and universal enlightenment [tôkaku]. Furthermore the merit of converting others is enormous. This refers to the virtue and benefits of proselytizing. However the vast, profound and effective enrichment and also the enormous benefits are those derived from the personal practice of the Buddha who is the practitioner of the all-inclusive direct teaching that is completely endowed with the one instant of mind containing three thousand existential spaces without overlooking a single dharma. If we look at this concept horizontally, then it is as vast as the ubiquity of the dharma realms of the ten directions, from a perpendicular viewpoint it is the utmost depth of the abyss of the dharma nature that spans the past, present and future. Such is the greatness of this sutra when the personal practice of the Buddha is applied to it.

All the provisional sutras that were expounded for the conversion of others do not necessarily have the background of the Buddha's personal practice, which makes these sutras comparable to birds with only one wing incapable of flying through the air. Because fundamentally there is nobody who became a Buddha in any of these sutras. Now by exposing and disposing of the teachings that were an expedient means for the conversion of others and then leaving them reintegrated as the temporary gateway into the one vehicle that is the Buddha's own practice, there can be nothing lacking in the dharma whatsoever. Therefore, just as a bird with two wings can fly without hindrance, there can be nothing in the way of becoming aware that our own inherent Buddha nature is not separate from who we are now. The Bodhisattva Yakuô used ten comparisons to show the potential and effectiveness of the personal practice of the Buddha as opposed to the teachings he used for the conversion of others. [These ten comparisons are as follows, "Just as out of all watercourses, effluents, streams, rivulets and great rivers the sea is the greatest, so it is the same with this Dharma Flower Sutra which is the most embracing and profound out of all the sutras that the Tathâgata has expounded. Just as out of all the mountains of soil, black mountains, the lesser inner ring of iron mountains that surround the world and also the larger range of iron mountains that mark the boundary of this world, Mount Sumeru is the greatest, so it is the same with this Dharma Flower Sutra which is the highest peak among all sutras. Just as out of all the stars the moon as prince of the devas is the first among the heavenly bodies at night, again it is the same with this Dharma Flower Sutra which shines the brightest out of the thousands of myriads of millions of different kinds of sutric dharmas (things) that exist. Again just as the sun as prince of devas can take away all darkness, so it is the same with this Dharma Flower Sutra that is able to reverse the darkness of everything that is not good. Again in the same way a holy ruler whose chariot wheels roll everywhere without hindrance is a monarch among all the lesser kings, it is the same with regard to this sutra which is the most revered out of all the others. Just as Bonten is the father of all sentient beings, it is the same with regard to this sutra which is the parent of all those who aspire to the mind of a bodhisattva, all those who are holy and wise and all those who are still studying to get rid of their delusions and thosewho have begun to cast them off. Again, just as those whose practice is beyond the stream of transmigratory suffering or those whose practice requires only one more lifetime before reaching Nirvana or those who have attained the supreme rewards of the individual vehicle or those who realize Nirvana for themselves and without a teacher are foremost among ordinary people, so it is the same with this sutra, whether it be expounded by the Tathâgata or by a bodhisattva or even a person who has heard the Buddha's voice. Among all the dharmas (things) this sutra is superior to all. Also the person who is able to receive and hold to this archetypal sutra takes first place among sentient beings. Just as the bodhisattvas are foremost among the hearers of the Buddha's voice and those who realize Nirvana for themselves without a teacher, so it is the same with this sutra, out of all the sutric dharmas (things) this sutra is superior to all. Just as the Buddha is the sovereign of all dharmas (things), so it is the same with this sutra that is the most important of all."]

The first of these comparisons says, "All the other sutras are like all the watercourses the Dharma Flower is like the great sea." At least this is the intended meaning of the quotation. In actual fact all the watercourses of the sutras that were expounded for the conversion of others have been flowing ceaselessly day and night towards the great sea of the Dharma Flower Sutra that embodies the individual practice of the Tathâgata. Nevertheless, even if these watercourses have been flowing into the great sea, the great sea itself neither diminishes nor increases, which reveals the imponderably inexplicable quality of the virtue and effectiveness of this sutra. But none of these watercourses of all the sutras even for the slightest moment add anything to the great sea of the Dharma Flower Sutra. Such is the superiority of the teachings that are derived from the Buddha's own practice as opposed to those that were used as an expedient means. Through the quotation of this one comparison we have an example which covers the other nine, yet all the comparisons are what the Buddha expounded without any words inserted by humankind. When you have taken the meaning of this concept to heart then the significance of the Tathâgata's lifetime of holy teaching will become as clear as daylight on a cloudless day, who could have any doubts or confusion about this remark concerning the Dharma Flower Sutra? Since this remark refers to the collation of the layers of teachings of All the Buddhas of the past, present and future, I would not dare add a single word from the commentaries of the scholars of humankind. Also this sutra is the ultimate aspiration and the reason for All the Buddhas of the past, present and future for coming into this world. Furthermore this sutra is the direct means for all sentient beings to become Buddhas.

The forty-two years of sutric teachings that were for the conversion of others led to the establishment of the Kegon school [the school of the Flower Garland Sutra], the Shingon school [the Tantric and Mantra school], the Daruma school [the school of the teachings that were transmitted by Bodhidharma, i.e. Zen], the Jôdo school [the school of the Immaculate Terrain, i.e. Nembutsu], the Hossô school [the Cognition Only school], the Sanron school [the school of the Three Treatises on the Middle Way], Risshû, the Ritsu school [the school of Monastic Discipline], the Kusha school [the school of the Doctrinal Store of the Dharma, Abhidharma kosha], and the Jôjitsu school [the school of the Establishment of the Real Meaning]. All the teachings of these schools belong to the four doctrinal periods of the eight classifications of Shakyamuni's teaching that were expounded prior to the Dharma Flower Sutra. These first four doctrinal periods of the Buddha teaching, (i) the combined doctrinal period in which the all-inclusive, the particular teaching were also taught during the Flower Garland period, (ii) the teachings that were taught during the period of the individual vehicle were those of the three receptacles, (iii) the comparative doctrinal period which corresponds to the period of the equally broad teachings in which the doctrines of the three receptacles, the interrelated teachings, the particular teaching and the all-inclusive teaching were contrasted with each other and (iv) the comprehensive doctrinal period which is the period of the wisdom teachings that were the final preparation for the perfect teaching. These four doctrinal periods were all an expedient means to entice people towards the Dharma Flower. This is the order in which All the Buddhas of the past, present and future have expounded the dharma. The fact that this order is the correct one makes this argument a discourse that is a gateway to the dharma. If however the order is in someway divergent then it cannot be the Buddha dharma. The lifetime of instruction of the Lord of the Teaching, the Tathâgata Shakyamuni was also founded on the precedence of doctrine in which All the Buddhas of the past, present and future expounded the dharma without a single discrepancy of even one ideogram, I also expound the dharma in exactly the same way. In the sutra it says, "In the same manner as All the Buddhas of the past, present and future have expounded the dharma, I now in like fashion expound the dharma that is (a one suchness) that is devoid of discrimination." If it were in any way otherwise, it would forever be in contradiction to the original intent of All the Buddhas of the past, present and future. All the other teachers who have founded their own schools make the error of errors by disputing the school of the Dharma Flower [Hokkeshû], it is also the bewilderment of not knowing what the Buddha dharma is about.

In the book called A Probe into the Errors of other Doctrines, where it refutes the arguments of these various schools we have, "On the whole if one were to look over the dharma store of eighty thousand sutras, the four categories of teachings that came prior to the Dharma Flower which are those of (i) the three receptacles, (ii) the interrelated teachings, (iii) the particular teaching and (iv) the all-inclusive teachings, the special characteristics of these teachings are not at all apparent. These four teachings first become noticeable in the sense that the three receptacles teachings were for the hearers of the Buddha's voice, the interrelated teachings were for those who were awakened due to karmic circumstances, the particular teachings were for the bodhisattvas and the all-inclusive teachings were the Buddha vehicle. How could the Shingon school, the Zen school, the Hossô school, the Ritsu school, the Jôjitsu school go beyond the four categories of teaching just mentioned or any further than whatever their schools may have taught. How could they go beyond the teachings of their individual schools or their own theoretical concepts? If I were to say they do go beyond the four categories of teaching, then how could they not be distorting and incomplete practices outside the Buddha teaching? If I were to say that the teachings of these schools do not go any farther than the four categories of teaching that came before the Dharma Flower Sutra. Then did you have any other expectation through asking? This is what the fruition of the four vehicles amount to. Naturally, now I have given you the answer, you must be sure of what your are inferring through your questioning. Through looking into the practice and study of the four categories of teaching that came prior to the Dharma Flower, I can decide what the anticipated fruitions will be. If you think I am wrong then you must press for further answers. In the meantime I would like to say that just like the Flower Garland Sutra, each one of the five teachings of Shakyamuni's lifetime are those in which the cultivation and practice of the cause leads the practitioner towards the virtues of their fruition. [All the practices of the Buddha teachings prior to the Dharma Flower Sutra were conducted through fifty-two stages right on from the first until the practicant had reached the fifty-second stage which was understood to be the dharma realm of the Buddha. This quotation refers to these stages of practice as] the first, middle and latter stages cannot become the oneness of the practice of the Dharma Flower Sutra. Each single doctrine that came before the Dharma Flower has its own awaited fruition. If the three receptacle teachings, the interrelated teachings, the particular teachings and the all-inclusive teachings did not have their respective causes and fruitions it could not be the Buddha Teaching. It has to be decided as to which one of the three dharma wheels one is referring to, whether it be the dharma wheel of the basic fundamentals [the period of the teaching of the individual vehicle], the dharma wheel of the branches and twigs [the period of the equally broad teachings] or the dharma wheel of removing the twigs and returning to the roots [the period of the wisdom teachings]. By which vehicle of the dharma are you aspiring to become enlightened? If you say it is the Buddha vehicle, you have not yet seen the practice or the contemplation for becoming a Buddha. If you say you wish to become a bodhisattva it is the difference between the practices of the middle way that are perpetuated over innumerable kalpas whose teachings consider relativity, phenomenon and the middle way as separate entities and the practice of the middle way whose doctrine is based on the all-inclusive, unobstructed accommodation of phenomenon, relativity and the middle way. Are you able to choose the correct vehicle? If you choose the practices of the middle way that are perpetuated over many kalpas then you need not expect any fruition at all. If you make the practices of the all-inclusive, unobstructed accommodation of phenomenon, relativity and the middle way your central point, then with the Buddha Shakyamuni as a precedent it is going to be difficult. Even if you were mistakenly going to start reciting mantras, you will probably not understand the destination of utterness through perceiving the three axioms of relativity, phenomenon and the middle way as not being separate from the oneness of the mind of sentient beings, like many other people I doubt that you will ever substantiate the underlying principle of utterness.

Hence, it is a principle of our school to judge other teachings according to their ultimate aspirations. Because if you are looking in the direction of the Dharma Flower, the Flower Garland and the Sutra on the Buddha's Passing over to Nirvana, you will find that these sutras are gateways to the dharma that were used as an expedient means to entice people towards the real teachings. Such people become amenable through their propensities for the provisional teachings which will ultimately lead them forward. Since they are disciples who are following the individual vehicle or teachings that are distorting and incomplete, they should be brought to a level of insight that will bring them to the real teachings. Therefore when one is expounding, one should be aware of those people who relied on the four important principles of the practitioner, [(i) practising according to the dharma and not the person who expounds it, (ii) to practice according to the intended significance and not the words used, (iii) to practice according to one's inner wisdom and not according to acquired knowledge, (iv) to practice according to the real aspect of the middle way as it is revealed in the Sutra on the Inexhaustible Significance and none other.] These practitioners may have found it necessary in their preaching to keep the real teachings back, but they used various expedient means until people were ready to hear what the real intention of the Buddha teaching was concerned with. Nevertheless one must not become attached to these provisional doctrines. When people are inquiring into the significance of one's own school by means of the provisional teachings, one has to decide as to where these other teachings are right and where they are wrong. But on all accounts one must not become a bigot." Generally speaking there are many direct, gradual and undetermined doctrines but only a very few have the implications of the all-inclusive teachings. This is what the virtuous universal teacher of the past had decided when all the teachings of every school were held up to the bright light of day and set in order. The scholars of the final period are not aware of this, they are confused and cannot make judgements with regard to the gateways of the Buddha teaching. It is important that people make a thorough study of the three teachings that lead to the Dharma Flower Sutra.

There are three categories of teaching, the direct, the gradual and the all-inclusive. Generally speaking these three doctrinal categories were the three ways in which the truth was imparted during Shakyamuni's lifetime of holy teaching. The direct and gradual doctrines were taught over a period of forty-two years and for the most part the all-inclusive teaching was revealed during the last eight years of Shakyamuni's life. Altogether this makes the fifty years of teaching outside of which there is no other dharma. How is it that people can get so mixed up about this fact? As long as we are sentient beings we talk in terms of the categories of teaching as representing the all-inclusive accommodation of relativity, phenomenon and the middle way, but when we attain to the fruition of becoming Buddhas we then talk about the three bodies of the Tathâgata. These are two different ways of saying the same thing. To give a further explanation, what I have just said implies the lifetime of holy teaching of the Tathâgata, when we fully realize that this becomes the total singularity of the all-inclusive accommodation of relativity, phenomenon and the middle way. This was taught in terms of the direct teaching of the Flower Garland Sutra as being the axiom of relativity, the gradual teachings of all the individual vehicle, the Equally Broad and Wisdom Sutras as being the axiom of phenomenon and the Dharma Flower Sutra as being the axiom of the middle way. This is what the Tathâgata taught in conformity with his own enlightenment. Furthermore, there are eight of the established schools outside our own that classify the three axioms of relativity, phenomenon and the middle way as being the constituents of the lifetime of holy teaching of the Tathâgata, but according to the doctrine propounded by each of these schools, all of them lack the principle of being all-inclusive and completely filling the whole, thereby making it impossible for people to open up their inherent Buddha nature. This is the reason why all the other schools have no real Buddha. What I dislike about these schools is their insufficiency of meaning. By taking the all-inclusive teaching one can contemplate each and every dharma. Since the all-inclusive teaching is the unobstructed accommodation of phenomenon, relativity and the middle way as well as being the all-inclusive replenished whole of the one instant of mind containing three thousand existential spaces, it is like the full moon of the fifteenth night of every lunar month. Because the all-inclusive teaching is the final superlative, it is absolutely perfect without any deficiency. It is beyond the dualities of good and bad, choosing the occasion, or seeking quiet places or even personal qualities. Since you know that all dharmas (things) are entirely the Buddha dharma there is nothing that cannot be fathomed or understood. Therefore even if you take the path of wrongdoing and injustice (you will learn sooner or later through your negative experiences) through the fivefold wisdom of the Tathâgata which is heaven, earth, water, fire and wind. This fivefold wisdom dwells in the minds of all sentient beings and is not separated from them for even an instant, this fivefold wisdom exists harmoniously in our minds both in the realms of existence or in the hereafter. Outside our own minds there is no dharma whatsoever. Therefore when you hear (or read) this, you will just where you are standing at this very moment attain the fruition of becoming aware of your own inherent Buddha nature and in no time will be able to reason your way through to the ultimate realization. This all-inclusive accommodation of relativity, phenomenon and the middle way which were taught in terms of the direct teaching of the Flower Garland Sutra as being the doctrine of the axiom of relativity, the gradual teachings of all the individual vehicle, the Equally Broad and Wisdom Sutras as representing the axiom of phenomenon and the Dharma Flower Sutra as representing the middle way. These three categories of teaching could be compared to a gem, its brilliance and the piece of jewellery in which it consists. On account of these three virtues we talk of this all-inclusive accommodation of relativity, phenomenon and the middle way as the precious talismanic stone capable of responding to every wish. Hence the metaphor of the three axioms, were these three virtues to be separated from each other, then any effectiveness this gem possessed would be of no avail. So it is the same with the schools whose teachings are the expedient means which have to be practised over periods of separate kalpas. The gem is a metaphor for the dharma body, its brilliance is analogous to the reward body and the piece of jewellery itself is a metaphor for the corresponding body. If schools are founded upon partialities of the all-inclusive accommodation of relativity, phenomenon and the middle way, one should have no use for them due to their incompleteness. However when all is said and done the all-inclusive accommodation of the triple axiom is a oneness that is the inseparability of the three bodies from the single embodiment of the originally enlightened Tathâgata.

Furthermore the terrain of silence and illumination is comparable to a mirror, the other three terrains, (i) where the holy and ordinary people dwell alongside each other, (ii) the terrain of expedient means where its occupants still have the remains of misunderstanding to be cleared away and (iii) the land of the reward of enlightenment in reality are the images that are reflected in that mirror. These four terrains are in fact a single terrain. The three bodies of the Tathâgata, (i) the dharma body, (ii) the reward body and (iii) the body (i. e. manifestation) that corresponds to the needs of sentient beings, are the constituents of the one Buddha. Now, when these three bodies are joined in harmony with the four terrains they become the virtue of the one entity of the Buddha that we refer to as the Buddha enlightenment of silence and illumination. With the Buddha of silence and illumination becoming the Buddha of the all-inclusive teaching, then the Buddha of the all-inclusive teaching becomes the awakening to the enlightenment of the Buddha in reality. The Buddha in the three remaining terrains is the provisional Buddha in the midst of the dream. But when All the Buddhas of the past, present and future used the same modes of expression in collating their doctrines into a coherent definitive teaching, they did not use the terms of ordinary speech, nor did they give any discursive explanations that could be contradicted. If these definitive teachings had in any way been different from each other then it would have been the enormous wrongdoing of someone who opposes the teaching of All the Buddhas of the past, present and future. Such as one of the demonic devas outside the Buddha path who have for ages been opposed to the Buddha dharma. This esoteric treasure [the Fundamental Object of Veneration] is to be kept hidden so as not to let it be seen by profane people. If this esoteric treasure were not hidden it would be bandied about in the open and any substantiation of its intrinsicality through practice would be lost. Thus leaving people in this present life and in their lives that are yet to come to be eclipsed in an ever increasing darkness. Because both the people who vilify this dharma and who turn their backs on All the Buddhas of the past, present and future as well as those people who listen to these misguided concepts will fall into the paths of evil. It is on this account that I am letting you know and cautioning you against committing such an error. You must make the effort to substantiate the intrinsicality of this esoteric treasure through your practice, since this is what All the Buddhas of the past, present and future originally had in mind. The two holy persons the Bodhisattva Yakuô and the Bodhisattva Yuze along with the two Universal Guardian Deva Kings Jikoku and Bishamon as well as the Rakshashi Kishimojin and her daughters will watch over you and protect you. When you die you will be immediately reborn in the ultimate supreme terrain of silence and illumination. But should you for the shortest while return to the dream of living and dying your person [dharma body] will completely fill all the realm of dharmas (things) of the ten directions and your mind will be in the physical incarnations of all sentient beings. You will urge them on towards enlightenment from within and on the outside you will show these sentient beings which path to take. Since there is a mutual correspondence between what is on the inside and what is on the outside as well as there being a harmony between causes and karmic circumstances, you will busy yourself with the immense compassion that lies in the fullness of the reaches of your mind that is independently free to effectively benefit all sentient beings simultaneously.

What was in the mind of All the Buddhas of the past, present and future with regard to the one universal matter of the cause and karmic circumstances for making their appearance in the world [existential spaces] is, 'one' stands for the middle way and the Dharma Flower Sutra, 'universal' represents the axiom of relativity and the Flower Garland Sutra, 'matter' refers to the axiom of phenomenon and the individual vehicle, the equally broad and wisdom teachings. What the above implies is that the all-inclusive accommodation of the axioms of relativity, phenomenon and the middle way were taught throughout the lifetime of Shakyamuni in terms of the direct teaching of the Flower Garland Sutra as being the teaching of the axiom of relativity, the gradual teachings of all the individual vehicle, the Equally Broad and Wisdom Sutras as representing the axiom of phenomenon and the Dharma Flower as representing the axiom of the middle way. When you know and fully realize the implications of this all-inclusive accommodation of the three axioms, it means that your fundamental motive for coming into the world is to take the direct path for becoming enlightened. As for the 'cause' it is this all-inclusive accommodation of these three axioms that exist everlastingly and unchangingly in the midst of the incarnations of all sentient beings. This is generally referred to as the 'cause'. Although 'karmic circumstances' may be said to be the threefold aspect of the Buddha nature which is (i) the direct cause for becoming enlightened due to our innate Buddha nature, (ii) the cause for becoming enlightened through being able to perceive the intrinsicality of the dharma nature and (iii) the karmic circumstances that bring about the revelation of our own inherent Buddha nature. But if the karmic circumstances do not exist for meeting a good friend who can stimulate you towards the Buddha wisdom, you will never be aware of it, or know it or have it revealed to you. On the other hand due to the karmic circumstances of meeting a good friend who stimulates you towards the Buddha wisdom you will certainly have it revealed to you as the Fundamental Object of Veneration. Hence the use of the term 'karmic circumstances' being needed in the expression 'the one universal matter of the cause and karmic circumstances for the Buddha's coming into the world'. Nevertheless by putting these five words of 'the one', 'universal', 'matter of', 'cause' and 'karmic circumstances' together, then you have met the difficultly encountered good friend who stimulates you towards the Buddha wisdom. Why are you still procrastinating? When spring comes, due to the karmic circumstances of wind and rain, this season is when all the trees and plants whose minds are without consciousness start sprouting shoots and buds which later become the blossoms and the carpet of flowers that greet the world with a feeling of light colourfulness. When the autumn comes, it is due to the brightness of the moon that all the plants produce and all of the fruits of the trees become ripe in order to sustain all sentient beings, then on account of the nourishing qualities of all this produce, the lives of people are prolonged. In the end they will reveal the enormous virtue of their role of having become Buddhas. Is there anyone who doubts this or cannot believe it? If the plants and trees that are devoid of consciousness can do such things then why not humankind that is endowed with a natural sense of right and wrong?

Even though we are bewildered common mortals, at least we are endowed with enough mind and understanding to be able to know whether something is good or bad. However with the entrenched karmic circumstances that have their origin in former lives you were born in a country (terrain and abode) that has been receptive to the dissemination of the Buddha dharma, therefore you should be able to discriminate the cause and fruition of having met the good friend who has urged you towards the Buddha wisdom. Nevertheless, through having met this good friend you ought to be a person who should be aware that your inherent Buddha nature is not separate from who you are now. Do you mean to say you are going to remain silent and show even less than what the plants and trees have of the threefold aspect of the Buddha nature that is within your own person? This time you must by all means dissipate your illusions about the dream of living and dying and cut away the bonds of successive lives and deaths by returning to the arousal of the original awakening. From now onwards you must not get yourself taken in by the gateways to the dharmas (things) within the dream. You must open up an all pervasive enlightenment by cultivating yourself in the practice of reciting Nam myôhô renge kyô with your whole mind in perfect harmony with All the Buddhas of the past, present and future. The difference between the teaching of the Buddha’s own practice and the doctrines that the Buddha used for the conversion of others is as clear as the daylight on a cloudless day. The collation of the layers of the various teachings of All the Buddhas of the past, present and future is precise about this point. This must be kept secret.

The tenth month of the second year of Kô.an [1279]
Nichiren

Martin Bradley, The Buddha Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, ISBN: 2-913122-19-1, 2005, Chapter 4, p. 149