by Mike Lucas

A few posts back, we briefly touched on the topic of Nichiren while talking about going to a temple. This article is the result of that, and more fully explains what Nichiren Buddhism is all about and some of the important concepts involved with that branch. Mike Lukas is a comedian, and you can check out his website at http://www.crackinupradio.com. Although his wife was raised in Nichiren Buddhism, Mike converted several years ago and it has had an incredibly positive influence on his life.

Keep in mind that this is written from the perspective of someone who follows the path of Nichiren; the beliefs of other denominations may vary significantly, but this is a good explanation from within that tradition.

Nichiren and the Lotus Sutra by Mike Lukas

Okay, so here’s how I understand it – hope I can explain it correctly. Shakyamuni Buddha wrote thousands of Sutras, or teachings, in his lifetime. He slowly revealed ’The Truth’ (the truth being the correct way to achieve enlightenment) to the people, as he thought they could understand it, starting with more basic sutras (explaining how to clean yourself, to eat properly, etc. – remember, this was thousands of years ago!) all the way up to his later teachings which explained more specifically how to practice different parts of Buddhism.

Now in the last eight years of his life, he taught only one sutra, the Lotus Sutra, and in his words, this is the teaching that all the others have led to. It contains "The Truth’ (what is enlightenment and how one achieves it). It’s actually the literal title of the Lotus Sutra, Myoho Renge Kyo that we chant, in fact. The Lotus Sutra (according to him) says (among lots of other things) that each of us is able to achieve ‘Nirvana’ or ’enlightenment in THIS lifetime, without having to depend on any thing or any one else. The other sutras do not say this. Each of us has the ability to tap into our ‘best selves’ (which is what enlightenment is!) in this lifetime. All the other sutras do not state that (because, again, in his words, people were not ready to hear/understand that truth yet) – and Shakyamuni says that because of this ommission, all prior teachings are ‘provisional’ or ‘incomplete’ teachings which were written simply to prepare the people to hear the final truth contained in the Lotus Sutra.

So then what is Zen, or Tibetan or ‘XYZ’ Buddhism then? These are Buddhist practices based on the earlier, or provisional teachings (Sutras) of Shakyamuni Buddha. Their originators heard the earlier teachings (which were partially true, of course, but incomplete, according to the Buddha) and ran with them – and since there was no internet or postal system back then, they never got the final message about the final Sutra, and so there was no one to correct them. And so they taught and spread their form of Buddhism based on an imcomplete truth – they’re all ‘partially’ true, but do not contain ‘all’ of the truth.

So then, cut to Japan in the 1200’s – lots of foreign invasion, strife for the people, cruel and greedy rulers and priests – even though they were practicing ‘Buddhism’ it didn’t seem to be working. Then Nichirin was born in the midst of this turmoil. He is considered to be Shakyamuni reborn for the sole purpose of correcting the situtation. He saw what was happening with the people and decided to dedicate his youth to studying all the sutras and figure out what the people were doing wrong. He’s the one who read and re-read the Buddha’s own words, and concluded that the Lotus Sutra is the ultimate teaching, the final truth, the single way towards enlightenment in this lifetime. Nichirin began to call out the incompleteness of the other sutras (which of course pissed off anyone who thought their sutra was ‘the truth’ – and STILL pisses people off to this day) and began teaching to the people that, by simply chanting the title of the Lotus Sutra (Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, adding Nam, a contraction which means ‘to devote oneself’) anyone (from commoners to the ruling class) can tap into the wisdom of the entire sutra and achieve enlightenment, here and now.

To me, Nicherin is like the original Obama, a guy who rose up out of turmoil and said the people must be represented. And like Obama, he still gets lots of grief for having the balls to ‘call out’ the status quo, because if what he says is true, what they say is not. Of course no one likes to have what they believe called ‘incomplete,’’ but these findings are based on the direct quotations from the guy who originally wrote it all (Shakyamuni)! When you read the actual words, it’s impossible for me (and millions of others) to arrive at any other conclusion.

This is how I understand it – and it truly makes sense to me. Before I ever found Nichiren Buddhism, I tried Zen and read about a lot of the others, but none of it sang to me. It felt incomplete, though I never used that word. Then when I began studying the Lotus Sutra three years ago, it all made sense to me and my heart began to open up to life again. Just as it said I would. I don’t think the other sects are wrong, just incomplete. Not incorrect, just not whole. They all seem to be using this lifetime to prepare for some future lifetime, some distant ‘Nirvana,’’ in the same way that Catholicism uses this life to prepare you for ‘Heaven.’ And they all claim that you must go through some level of priesthood in order to accomplish this. The Lotus Sutra, on the other hand, says now is the time for enlightenment, and everyone (not just priests or not just with their guidance), but everyone can tap into this right this second! How amazing is that?

Well, this is what I believe with my whole heart, and I hope it makes sense to you, because this distinction is extremely important.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

I am curious to hear from others on this topic as I am still searching.