THE DHARMA FLOWER SUTRA SEEN THROUGH
THE ORAL TRANSMISSION OF NICHIREN DAISHÔNIN
ω

The Sutra on the White Lotus Flower-Like Mechanism
Of the Utterness Of the Dharma (Myôhô Renge Kyô),
The Fifth Chapter on the Parable of the Medicinal Herbs

The first important point with regard to the fifth Chapter on the Parable of Medicinal Herbs.

It says in the seventh volume of the Notes on the Textual Explanation of the Meaning of the Dharma Flower Sutra that our inherent propensity for innocence or our fidelity to the fundamental nature of the Dharma, which like life itself has neither a beginning nor end, is comparable to the soil in which seeds are to be sown, whereas the resolution to really understand what life is all about through the teaching of the universal vehicle is an analogy for sowing those seeds. When the mind is awakened to enquire into what life consists of (shômon, shrâvaka) or even the search for some kind of enlightenment through the sciences, arts, literature or music (engaku, pratyekabuddha), this becomes similar to the stems of the seedlings. This would be the equivalent of the first of the ten stages of bodhisattva development in the practices of the teachings of Shākyamuni Buddha or the growth of the stalks of the seedlings of the Buddha vehicle to enlightenment.

The Oral Transmission says that faith in the underlying meaning of the location of the interdependence of cause, concomitancy and effect that pervades the whole of existence (Myôhô Renge Kyô) is comparable to seeds, when people come to physically and mentally understand that the real aspect of all dharmas in terms of the doctrine of the one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces is the pointer to the fruition of Buddhahood. Here the medicinal herbs refer to the minds and dharmas of the sentient beings who inhabit the nine dimensions of 1) suffering, 2) craving and hungry ghosts, 3) animality, 4) the titanic qualities of boastfulness and anger, 5) human equanimity, 6) provisional ecstasies, 7) intellectual seekers (shômon, shrâvaka), 8) being partially enlightened due to the sciences, arts, literature or music and 9) the altruistic dimension of the bodhisattvas. Therefore the minds that are dedicated to the provisional teachings of Shākyamuni are like plants that are poisonous. But when we come across and look into the Dharma Flower Sutra, the troublesome worries (bonnô) that are caused by our greed, anger and ignorance which pollute the spiritual soil that is our own minds are then sown again with the seeds of the all-inclusive replenished whole of the one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces of the triple entity of the Buddha [which is [1) the body of the highest aspect of the triple entity (hosshin, dharmakaya) that is Utterness itself, unmanifested and non-substantial, 2) the (hôshin, sambogakaya) that is the entirety of the Buddha wisdom that entails the Fundamental Object of Veneration (gohonzon) and 3) the (ôjin, nirmanakaya) which consists of the various manifestations of the Buddha in order to benefit unenlightened sentient beings]. When we become awakened to the significance of all of this, then in this particular context it is the meaning of the medicinal herb.

Now Nichiren and those that follow him put the remedy of the Utterness of the Dharma (Myôhô) to work on the weeds of our troublesome worries (bonnô). This to all intents and purposes is a parable to remind us that our troublesome worries (bonnô) are not something apart from our inherent enlightenment and that recurrent cycles of our lives and deaths are not separate from the underlying immateriality of the total extinction in nirvana which originally was the state of enlightenment attained by Shākyamuni. This concept of Buddhahood could be reached by extinguishing all delusions thereby destroying karma as the cause of rebirth. nirvana is equaled with the Dharma entity of the Buddha which in itself is an immaculate independence that implies non-production (fushô) and non-destruction (fumetsu). It has the essential qualities of eternity, purity and bliss; it also includes the theme and title of the Dharma Flower Sutra. There is an explanation of the word parable in the fifth volume of the Textual Explanation of the Meaning of the Dharma Flower Sutra that says, “A parable is something that teaches us in order to induce an understanding.”

The second important point concerning the Chapter on The Parable of the Medicinal Herbs that deals with the part where Makakashô (Mahâkâshapa) conforms to the enlightenment of the Buddha.

The Oral Transmission on the Meaning of the Dharma Flower Sutra says the words “conforms to” refer to Makakashô (Mahâkâshapa), whereas the words “the attainment of the enlightenment of the Buddha” are applicable to Shākyamuni. The expression of “conforming to the attainment of the enlightenment of the Buddha” means that both Makakashô and Shākyamuni had attained an identical understanding of the implications of Buddhahood. Therefore the word “conform” means that the disciple had fully understood what had been taught and that “the attainment of the enlightenment of the Buddha” refers to the hand gesture (mudra) that Shākyamuni made after Makakashô had recounted the parable of “The elder and the indigent son” to show his approval.

Now, those who follow Nichiren and are fully aware of the implications of Nam Myôhô Renge Kyô [which means to devote our lives to and found them on the Utterness of the Dharma permeated by the underlying white lotus flower-like mechanism of the interdependence of cause, concomitancy and effect in its whereabouts of the ten realms of dharmas] are those who conform to the Buddha enlightenment of Nichiren, who in turn praises them. This particular Chapter on the Parable of the Medicinal Herbs makes us fully understand that we can open up our inherent Buddha nature with our persons just as they are. The fact of conforming to the enlightenment of the Buddha is comparable to the two halves of a written agreement whose one half tallies with the other. This conforming to the enlightenment of the Buddha means that all the people who inhabit the three thousand dimensions where existence takes place are able to attain Buddhahood.

At that time the World Honoured One said to Makakashô along with his major disciples: Excellent, excellent, Makakashô. The true merits of the Tathâgata are indeed just as you have said. Furthermore the Tathâgata is in possession of boundlessly uncountable merits. Even if you were to discuss them for myriads of kalpas, you could not exhaust the subject.

You ought to know, Makakashô, that the Tathâgata is the sovereign of all dharmas so that when he explains them none can be without purpose or meaning. All the dharmas that were expounded through the medium of the expedient means are all sustained by the wisdom of enlightenment. All those dharmas that were expounded all led up to the foundations where all the wisdom of those who have been awakened through the sciences, literature, the arts or music (engaku, pratyekabuddha, hyskushibutsu) is based upon that which is the total enlightenment of all the implications of the real aspect of all dharmas (shohô jissô). On account of the Tathâgata’s discernment he is able to see where all teachings lead to, in the same way as he knows what is going on in the depths of the minds of all sentient beings, and with a consummate clarity of understanding of what all dharmas are. He is therefore able to teach all sentient beings all his wisdom and discernment.

Makakashô, take for example all the grass, trees, woodlands as well as all the medicinal herbs that grow in the soil of the hills, riverbanks and valleys of the three thousand universes where existence takes place, where there are all sorts of different kinds of vegetation and each sort has a different name. Then there comes a dense cloud which spreads out and covers all of the three thousand universes where existence takes place. All of a sudden it pours with rain whose moisture equally nourishes all the grasses and trees, the woodlands and all the medicinal herbs with small roots, small stalks, branches and broad leaves. Each one of these plants and trees whether they are either big or small, each one according to its tall, medium or low height receives its adequate measure of water, so that with one cloud of rain each plant according to its kind receives sufficient moisture to be able to grow, flower and bear fruit.

Although the oneness of the soil is moistened by the one and the same rain, each one of these plants and trees is different.

The third important point regarding the passage, “Although the oneness of the soil is moistened by the one and the same rain, each one of these plants and trees is different.”

The Oral Transmission on the Meaning of the Dharma Flower Sutra says that the concepts of the essentially unchanging principle of what the real nature of existence is (fuhen shinnyo) [which is the one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces] and that existence is continually changing according to various karmic circumstances (zuien shinnyo) come from this particular quotation.

The Universal Teacher Myôraku says that the two concepts of 1) the unchanging principle of what the real nature of existence is (fuhen shinnyo) and 2) reality in a continual flux of change due to various karmic circumstances (zuien shinnyo) stem from the great teaching of the universal vehicle. Such teachings that stipulate stones and trees as being without psyches or karma come from those doctrines that are smaller in scope. The words “great teaching” do not refer to the Dharma Flower Sutra as a whole [but only to the twenty-four words of the English version of the passage quoted above or the seventeen ideograms of the Chinese text]. “The soil is moistened by the one and the same rain” is an analogy to express the idea of existence as such without any distinctions whatsoever. The phrase “each one of these plants and trees is different” refers to existences that are differentiated according to their karma. Therefore the concept of existence without any distinctions is its Utterness (Myô) or the totality of existence itself, whereas existences that are differentiated according to their separate karmas are referred to as dharmas. [Existence as a whole and the teaching of the truth that underlies that existence is called the Dharma with a capital “D”.]

Now when Nichiren and his followers reverently recite Nam Myôhô Renge Kyô, they are putting aside all differentiation. “The oneness of the soil” is the vast dimension that entails the teachings that are derived from the external events of Shākyamuni’s life and work (shakumon) and “the one and the same rain” is the undeniable fact of the sky that is the original archetypal teaching (honmon). “The oneness of the soil” points to the idea of plants coming out of the earth which has the undertone of cause. [In the teaching of Shākyamuni this is the struggle to attain Buddhahood which leads to the effect that is enlightenment.] “The one and the same rain” expresses the notion of rain coming down from the sky which suggests effect turning towards its causes. [In the teaching of Nichiren we open up our inherent Buddha nature immediately through our first practices, which in this discourse is “effect”, even though our persons remain the same as we go about our lives in the nine realms of dharmas, which are the “cause” for our search for greater happiness and awareness.]

Now that we have arrived at the age of the final phase of the Dharma of Shākyamuni, we now propagate the teaching that alludes to “the one and the same rain” which is the Buddha doctrine (i.e. Nichiren), wherein the concept of effect is propounded that our Buddha realm having been opened up through practice now faces into the direction of its cause that is the nine realms of dharmas. [The nine realms are 1) suffering, 2) craving, wanting and needing, 3) the instinctive and involuntary behaviours of animality, 4) the arrogance and anger of the ashuras (shura), 5) human equanimity, 6) provisional ecstatic joys, 7) learning and research for oneself, 8) partial enlightenment for oneself as acquired through learning and research, 9) people who seek enlightenment not only for themselves but for others as well (bosatsu).] "The one and the same rain" is the recitation of the title and theme (daimoku) without mixing it with any other teaching or practice.

The First and Introductory Chapter of the Dharma Flower Sutra teaches how the Buddha was about to explain the all-embracing Dharma and was going to make the rain of this all-embracing Dharma come streaming down. Now, at the time of this particular Chapter on the Parable of the Medicinal Herbs, this sutra makes it clear how this “one and the same rain” irrigates and waters all the plants and trees. The rain that nourishes all the vegetation is the same rain of the all-embracing Dharma which the Buddha mentions in the First and Introductory Chapter of the Dharma Flower Sutra. “The oneness of the soil” when correlated with the title of the Sutra on the White Lotus Flower-like Mechanism of the Utterness of the Dharma” (Myôhô Renge Kyô) is specified by the word “Utterness” or Myô. In just the same way as the two previous examples, the words “Lotus Flower and Dharma” take on the meaning of all dharmas of the three thousand existential spaces. These three thousand existential spaces include our respective environments as well as the three vehicles to enlightenment: 1) the hearers of the Buddha’s voice or intellectual seekers (shômon, shrâvaka), 2) those who are partially enlightened due to various studies and 3) the bodhisattvas. All these essential realms also include the five vehicles for the enlightenment of the devas, humankind, intellectual seekers (shômon, shrâvaka), the partially enlightened and the bodhisattvas. Again all the existential spaces must include the seven categories of individuals who had to receive teachings that were an expedient means and were expounded prior to the Dharma Flower Sutra which are the teachings of the individual vehicle that were for the 1) intellectual seekers (shômon, shrâvaka), 2) partially enlightened and 3) the bodhisattvas. As well as the interrelated teachings that connected the doctrines of the individual vehicle to those of the universal vehicle that were also for 4) the intellectual seekers (shômon, shrâvaka), 5) the partially enlightened and 6) the bodhisattvas along with the particular teaching that was 7) only for bodhisattvas, all those three thousand existential spaces with the totality of dharmas that they contain must imply the nine realms of dharmas of ordinary people such as we.

Makakashô, you should be aware that it is the same for the Tathâgata who comes into the realms of existence like the ascent of a great cloud and whose all-embracing voice extends over the three thousand universes where existence takes place so as to reach the devas, humankind and the ashuras (shura) [who are similar to the titans] who dwell in them. In the midst of the great assembly he proclaims the following words: “I am the person who has arrived at and comes from the essence of reality (Nyorai, Tathâgata), who is worthy of offerings and is correctly and universally enlightened, whose knowledge and conduct is perfect, who is completely free from the cycles of living and dying, yet with a complete understanding of the realms of existence and lord supreme. I am the master who brings the passions and delusions of sentient beings into a harmonious order, the teacher of humankind and the devas and the Buddha who brings all sentient beings to enlightenment and the World Honoured One. I am the liberator of all sentient beings from the pains of existence and who are not yet freed from such agonies, as well as giving peace to all those who do not experience it. For those who have not yet passed over to the extinction of nirvana, I lead them to that extinction that is beyond all existence. In all the present aspects of this as a reality, I am he who knows the path to the liberation of enlightenment and makes that path available through explaining what that path is. All you devas (ten) and humankind must come here in order to listen to the Dharma.”

Then at that moment all kinds of sentient beings in uncountable thousands of myriads come to the place where the Buddha was in order to listen to the Dharma. When the Tathâgata, who is able to discern as to whether the propensities of sentient beings are alert or obtuse or whether they are diligent or unenterprising, explained to them as much of the Dharma as they were able to take in, he also expounded it in uncountable different ways so as to make them joyful and receive pleasure from their good fortune. All those sentient beings on hearing the Dharma were immediately at peace with themselves for their present incarnations as well as having the chance of being born in better circumstances in their future lives. On account of their having been set upon the path towards enlightenment these sentient beings would find happiness and be able to listen to the Dharma in their future lives. They would be freed from the drawbacks inherent in other teachings and according to their various abilities they would find again the path towards enlightenment.

In the same way as this all-embracing cloud spread its rain over the plants, trees, woodlands and medicinal herbs, so that each kind fully benefitted from the downpour and was able to flourish.

The Dharma that the Tathâgata expounds is endowed with the single consistency of mind that is common to all sentient beings (issô), the oneness of its flavour (ichimi) that runs through the whole of existence and also has the quality of complete psychological emancipation that is separate from any manifestation (sô) whatsoever. It is in itself the fact of the total extinction of nirvana. Since this Dharma refers to the ultimate reality it is also the wisdom of all wisdom which is that of perfect enlightenment (issaishuchi).

Those people who listen to the Dharma of the Tathâgata whether they hold to it, recite, read or practice it in the same way as it was expounded will acquire merits that they will be incapable of understanding. How can this be so? Only the Tathâgata knows what sort of sentient beings individuals are, in what way they become manifest (sô), what they really are (tai), what their inner nature (shô) is, what goes on in their minds, what they think about, what practices they do, in what way they ponder over things, how they think, what they think about their practices, what sort of dharmas they are involved with, also what they think about such dharmas and how they came across them. Sentient beings live in all sorts of environments and terrains; only the Tathâgata can see these things as realities with clear insight and without hindrance.

In the same way as the plants, woodlands and all the medicinal herbs are unaware of their superior, average or lesser qualities, the Tathâgata knows them to be the oneness of mind which in reality is what they are and the oneness of their flavour is the Dharma itself. The Dharma is its own total emancipation and its own total extinction which is the reality of nirvana. Since all these dharmas are in fact the eternal silence of extinction, they all in the end converge into the immateriality of the latency that underlies all existence. While the Buddha is completely conscious of this fact, he then took into consideration the mentalities and appetites of sentient beings. With the wish to protect them the Buddha decided not to explain to them forthwith the wisdom of all wisdom which is the wisdom of the enlightenment of the Buddha.

Makakashô and the rest of you have the rarest of opportunities to be able to listen to and get to know the Dharma as the Tathâgata himself understands it. Why is this so? It is because when all the Buddhas explain the dharma as they themselves understand it, it is difficult to comprehend and it is difficult to assimilate. Thereupon the World Honoured One, again wishing to reiterate the meaning of this discourse, expressed it in the terms of a metric hymn.

The sovereign of the Dharma
who refutes the belief in what seems to be real,
when he appears in the realms
where existence takes place . . . .

The fourth important point concerning the passage: “The sovereign of the Dharma who refutes the belief in what seems to be real, when he appears in the realms where existence takes place, he expounds the Dharma in various ways accommodated to the needs of sentient beings.”

In the Oral Transmission on the Meaning of the Dharma Flower Sutra it says “what seems to be real” refers to those people who think that this teaching is a flagrant falsehood; “the destroyer” means “to put to silence such ways of thinking so as to teach the Buddha truth”; ‘the sovereign of Dharma is the advocate of the Dharma Flower Sutra”; and “the realms where existence takes place” is “where humankind abides”.

Again the Oral Transmission says that the idea of “refuting” suggests the immateriality of the latency that underlies existence (kû, shûnyatâ); the idea of “seeming to be real” refers to the physical aspect of existence (ke); and the sovereign of the Dharma is the middle way of reality (chûdô jissô) that combines these two concepts together so as to make existence an actuality. This particular phrase conveys the seeds for the enlightenment of the Tathâgata Shākyamuni.

Generally speaking it is due to this phrase quoted in the title of this important point that all the Buddhas of the past, present and future come to make their appearance in this dimension of existence. The three realms, where 1) sentient beings have appetites and desires 2) which are incarnated in a subjective materiality with physical surroundings 3) who at the same time are endowed with the immateriality of the realms of fantasies, thoughts and ideas, consist of twenty-five different kinds of existences wherein sentient beings are continually overwhelmed by total bewilderment and various kinds of suffering. [These twenty-five different kinds of existences are an analysis of the six paths of sentient existence that comes about in the three-dimensional space (sangai) where 1) sentient beings have appetites and desires (yokkai), 2) which are incarnated in a subjective materiality with physical surroundings (shikikai), 3) who at the same time are endowed with the immateriality of the realms of fantasies, thoughts and ideas (mushikikai) are also my reality. First in the realms where sentient beings have appetites and desires there are the four continents that circumscribe Mount Sumeru itself: 1) Hotsubadai that faces towards the east, 2) Kuyani that faces towards the west, 3) Uttanotsu that faces towards the north and 4) Embudai which is the world of humankind and faces south. Then there are the four destinations of less fortunate rebirth (shi’akushu): 1) the hells (jigoku) or suffering, 2) hungry ghosts or craving (gaki), 3) animality or animal propensities (chikushô) and the ashuras or titans (shura). Next we have the six heavens where the dwellers still have appetites and desires (rokuyokuten): 1) Shiôten, 2) Tôriten, 3) Yamaten, 4) Tosotsuten, 5) Kerakuten and 6) Takejizaiten which all together make up fourteen different kinds of existences. Then we come to the five realms of existence where sentient beings still have material incarnations with physical surroundings, the Mahâbrahma heaven (Daibonten) and the four (dyana, zen) heavens of the dimensions of form (Shikikai no shizen) which come from the practices of mental concentration in which the reasoning process of the intellect is cut short and consciousness is heightened by the exclusion of wandering thoughts from our personal lives except for the single thought which is taken as the subject of meditation. In this way it is said that one approaches the plane of pure thought only. Last we come to the four heavens that are completely devoid of any apparent presence at all: 1) Kûsho which is the abode of infinite space or emptiness, the formless or immaterial world, 2) Shikishoten the dimension of limitless knowing, 3) Mushoyusho the third dimension of formlessness and yet at the same time there is existence and 4) Hisôhihisôsho the dimension of no thought and yet the dimension where no non-thought exists, along with the heaven devoid of thought (musôten) and the state in the practices of the teachings of Shākyamuni where they will in their next existences attain the total extinction of nirvana (nagonten)]. This means sentient beings go round and round through the cycles of living and dying and that these dimensions are the world to be endured (shaba sekai).

The idea of refuting means to refute one’s attachment to what seems to be real. The sovereign of the Dharma is the mind as a whole or all things (dharmas) in the minds of all the sentient beings of the ten realms of existence. The sovereign of the Dharma is the whole of our minds which involves all the experiences of our lives. When we really understand what the real aspect of all dharmas is, which means that we really perceive life according to the principle of the one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces, then the sovereign of the Dharma becomes the sovereign who refutes all that is seemingly real.

Now when Nichiren along with those that follow him reverently chant Nam Myôhô Renge Kyô they are cutting off their attachment to the concept that this teaching is a flagrant falsehood and evolve into becoming like the Tathâgata Shākyamuni who is the sovereign of the Dharma.

The two ideas of 1) refuting as well as 2) what seems to be real are the seeds for the enlightenment of the original archetypal state of the Tathâgata Shākyamuni. Again the Oral Transmission says that all that seems to be real is the mainspring of the troublesome worries (bonnô) that accompany our respective lives and deaths. The doctrinal intention of the gateway of the provisional teachings prior to the Dharma Flower Sutra was to reject our troublesome worries (bonnô) along with our cycles of living and dying so as to attain the perfect wisdom of enlightenment and enter into the total extinction of nirvana. But now the object of the teaching of the Dharma Flower Sutra is simply to leave our troublesome worries (bonnô) that accompany our respective lives and deaths just as they are and to open up and realize [through practice] the eternity, happiness and purity of the enlightenment of nirvana. This is what is meant by the refutation of what seems to be real. What seems to be real are our troublesome worries (bonnô); the refutation of them is the recitation of and the meaning of Nam Myôhô Renge Kyô which is our devotion to and the foundation of our lives (namu = kimyô) the Utterness of the Dharma [entirety of existence] (Myôhô) permeated by the underlying white lotus flower-like mechanism of the interdependence of cause, concomitancy and effect (Renge) in its whereabouts of the ten realms of dharmas (Kyô). This is the implication of what does the rejection of what seems to be real. Both what is refuted and that which refutes are the one intrinsic truth of the real aspect of all dharmas.

In the First and Introductory Chapter of the Dharma Flower Sutra there is a reference to “those who have refuted and repulsed all the bonds that seem to be real”. In the present chapter we have “the sovereign of the Dharma who refutes what seems to be real”. In the Chapter on Similes and Parables of the same sutra we have Shākyamuni’s declaration: “Now these three realms where 1) sentient beings have appetites and desires, 2) which are incarnated in a subjective materiality with apparently physical surroundings who 3) at the same time are endowed with immateriality of the realms of fantasies, thoughts and ideas are all something that the Tathâgata possesses and are also seemingly real.”

. . . . according to the wishes of sentient beings
he expounds the Dharma in different ways.
The Tathâgata is the most venerable
and his wisdom is profound and far-reaching.
For a long time he never spoke
about the fundamental point of this Dharma
as well as not seeking to expound it on impulse,
because those who might have wisdom
on hearing it would neither understand it
nor have faith in it.
But for those with no wisdom
who are full of doubts
through their searching compunctions
such a Dharma would be lost forever.
This is why, Makakashô, I explain things
according to the capacities of those I teach.
By means of parables and similes
I got them to see things in the correct way.
Makakashô, you ought to know
that once there was a great cloud
that rose above the realms of existence
covering every single thing everywhere.
It was a cloud filled with the moisture of wisdom.
There were bright flashes of lightning
and peals of thunder rumbling in the distance.
These peals of thunder
give joy to all beings and things
even though the rays of the sun are hidden by cloud
in a way that the ground has become cool.
The clouds hang in long streaks above the ground.
It would seem that the earth
could almost catch them.
The rain streams down beyond measure
so that the whole of the earth is completely soaked.
In the mountains and along the rivers,
in the precipitous valleys and ravines
whose depth is out of sight
there grow plants, trees, medicinal herbs
and all the different kinds of woodlands
where a hundred kinds of grasses and cereals
sprout and flourish along with sugar cane and vines.
There was not a place
where the rain did not suffice.
The parched ground was moistened everywhere
so that both plants and trees could thrive.
The water that came from this cloud
had but a single flavour.
All the grasses, trees, woods and forests
are irrigated according to their measure.
All the trees whether they are tall,
medium-sized or little
each one consistent with its size
was able to grow and flourish.
Their roots, trunks. branches and foliage and
their flowers and brightly coloured fruit,
as soon as the rain fell on them
they all took on the look of shiny freshness.
Then all according to their entities as vegetation (tai)
their physical aspects (sô) and their varying essences (shô)
also as to whether they were big or small,
each one received the one moisture
and was able to become luxuriant in its own manner.
It is just the same with the Buddha
who like this all-embracing cloud
manifests himself in the dimensions
where existence takes place,
a cloud that covers everything everywhere.
When the Buddha comes into the dimensions
where existence takes place
it is for the benefit of all the sentient beings
who inhabit those dimensions.
His intention is to pick out
from the relativities in the latencies of the void (kû)
and expound the real aspect of all dharmas.
The World Honoured One
who is universally wise, good and upright
in all his character (daishô),
in the midst of the assembly of devas and humankind
says out loud:
I am the Tathâgata
venerated by all humankind on two legs.
I have come into the dimensions where existence takes place
just as the all-embracing cloud
which moistened and reanimated all that grew.
I now do the same for sentient beings,
so as to release them from all suffering
and so that they find the happiness of the remedy
that is the fulfillment of the existential spaces,
or even the eternity, happiness, substantiality
and pureness of nirvana.
Now, listen hard.
All of you in the assembly of devas and humankind,
have you really come here to look upon
the World Honoured One who has no superior?
I am that World Honoured One whom nobody can equal.
It is for the relief and peace of sentient beings
that I come into their realms of existence.
It is for all the people in the assembly
that I explain this immortal nectar (kanro)
of pure Dharma itself [Nam Myôhô Renge Kyô].
This Dharma is of the single flavour
that is applicable to everything
whose total extinction is that of nirvana.
With the vocal teaching that involves Utterness (myô’on)
I expound and disclose its implications.
It is always for the purpose of the universal vehicle (daijô, mahâyâna)
that I construct stories that have a karmic relationship
which coincides with this single intention.
When I look upon the dharmas that exist,
I see them as being of the same consistency everywhere.
I have no mind to favour this or that,
nor have I a mind to love one and hate the other.
I have no self-interest or attachment for any of them,
and I am also free of any obstacles that can hinder me.

The fifth important point concerning the content of the following five lines of metric hymn [with regard to Shākyamuni’s enlightenment]: “When I look upon the dharmas that exist, I see them as being of the same consistency everywhere. I have no mind to favour this or that, nor have I a mind to love one and hate the other. I have no self-interest or attachment for any of them, and I am also free of any obstacles that can hinder me.”

The Oral Transmission on the Meaning of the Dharma Flower Sutra states that the five lines of metric hymn refer to five of the deepest profundities of perceptions of the mind or the senses that can evolve into consciousness (shiki, vijñâna). The lines, “When I look upon the dharmas that exist, I see them as being of the same consistency everywhere,” refer to the deepest of the profundities of perception (kyushiki, amarashiki, amalavijñâna). This is the completely untainted perception of the very essence of life itself [which is the same as the content of the Fundamental Object of Veneration]. The line, “I have no mind to favour this or that” represents the eighth of the nine profundities of perception which is the foundation upon which consciousness is based. It is seemingly but not in reality the basic aspect of each individual. It is also the source of the other profundities of perception and has the power to conjure up all dharmas (arayashiki, zôshiki, âlaya vijñâna). This perception that can evolve into consciousness is often thought of as the “storehouse consciousness”. The phrase, “I have no mind to love oneor hate the other.” refers to the seventh of these perceptions that can evolve into consciousness (manashiki, manas) which is the activity of the mind as thinking or measuring. It is the root of all illusion and is always functioning. The line, “I have no self-interest or attachment for any of them,” refers to the sixth of these perceptions that can evolve into consciousness (ishiki, mano-vijñâna). When this perception becomes a conscious activity it is ordinary thought and depends upon the organ of thought. The last of these perceptions that can evolve into consciousness is collectively the ones that have decidedly their own organs for being able to become aware of what they sense, which are the eyes, ears, nose and tongue. It is only since the last few centuries that we conceive our thoughts as coming from the brain. In the last line that refers to Shākyamuni’s enlightenment in the title “and I am also free of any obstacles that can hinder me”, it points to the last of these five perceptions that can evolve into consciousness which collectively are sight, hearing, smell, taste and mental perception. These five perceptions are on the whole the way we sentient beings are able to become aware of dharmas.

Now Nichiren and those that follow him who reverently recite Nam Myôhô Renge Kyô, do they not see dharmas as being of the same consistency everywhere? Is this not the ninth perception that can evolve into consciousness which is the completely untainted awareness or cognition of the very essence of life itself (amarashiki)? Then, do they have no mind to favour this or that? Or do they not have a mind to love one and hate the other? Have they no self-interest nor attachment for any dharma? Or are there no obstacles that can hinder them?

Without varying I expound
that the Dharma is equal everywhere
for the benefit of each and every person.
Just as though I were teaching a single individual
I do the same for the multitude of the assembly.
I continually expound the Dharma
and never preach about other subjects.
Whether I am coming or going,
sitting or standing
I feel no tiredness nor dislike for teaching.
In the same way that the rain
moistens everything everywhere
I bestow satisfaction on all the realms
where existence takes place.
No matter whether they are nobles
or simply ordinary people,
nor does it matter whether they
are aristocrats or commoners or even if they have taken
the monastic precepts or not,
or whether they have any authority or not
or whether their views are correct or not
or even if their propensities are keen or dull,
I make the rain of the Dharma
fall equally on all
without any negligence or fatigue.
ll the sentient beings
who listen to my Dharma
assimilate it according to their abilities.
Also they live in all kinds of dimensions.
Either they are humankind or devas
or holy rulers whose chariot wheels
roll everywhere without hindrance (tenrin jô’ô)
or even deva sovereigns such as Indra or Brahma.
These sentient beings are comparable
to the smaller medicinal herbs.
Those who get to know this Dharma
that has no vagaries
nor fantasies
nor troublesome worries (bonnô)
are able to attain nirvana
or simply the six reaches of the mind of the devas [which are 1) their sight, 2) their hearing, 3) their ability to penetrate the minds of other people, 4) their ability to understand the inherent karma of sentient beings, 5) their ability to manifest themselves according to the capacities of other people and the ability to travel mentally elsewhere, their ability to cut off all troublesome worries (bonnô)],
along with the three insights [which are 1) the insight into the mortal conditions of oneself and others in previous lives, 2) the ability to foresee future mortal conditions and 3) the cognizance of nirvana which is the ability to overcome all temptation and suffering].
Those who got to know this Dharma
that has no vagaries nor fantasies
nor troublesome worries (bonnô)
live on their own in the mountains and forests
and always spend their time perfectly absorbed into the
one object of their meditation,
concentration and abstraction
reaching to the ultimate beyond emotion or thinking (zenjô)
and attain the substantiation
of those who are partially enlightened [in this case due to their Vedic and Brahmanic Studies].
Such people are comparable
to the middle-sized medicinal herbs.
Those who seek the place
where the World Honoured One is residing
and say that they wish to attain
the fruition of Buddhahood
who also practice with zeal and concentration,
such people are comparable
to the tallest of the medicinal herbs.
Again those who hold faith
in the Buddha teaching
and dedicate themselves to the Buddha path
as well as practicing universal loving kindness
knowing that they themselves
in their determination that have no doubts
are comparable to the smaller trees.
Such people whose reaches of the mind
are perfectly settled
and turn the wheel of never turning back
who ferry boundless myriads
from the shores of living and dying
to those of nirvana
are bodhisattvas who are comparable
to the greatest of trees.
The exposition of the Buddha
is equal for everybody,
just like the rain
that has but a single flavour.
Just as sentient beings
have different characters
so the rain is not absorbed in the same manner.
In the same way as each plant or tree
has a different way of receiving moisture.
The Buddha uses this parable
as a means that is expedient
to reveal and make the Dharma apparent.
Also using various ways
of expressing himself
he propagates and expounds
the one Dharma.
The wisdom and discernment of the Buddha
is comparable to the uniform taste
of each single drop
of water from the ocean.
[It is not separate from the realities of the whole of existence.]
I make the rain of the Dharma
come pouring down
and fill each existential realm.
The Dharma that has
the same savour everywhere
is practiced according to the capacities
of each individual,
in the same way
as all the trees and plants in the forest
gradually grow and flourish in size and beauty.
The Dharma of all the Buddhas
is always of the one flavour
in order to give fulfillment to all the dimensions
everywhere where existence takes place.
Then by practicing through stages
each one will obtain the realization of the path.
Those people who exert themselves
to attain the highest stage of
the individual vehicle
through listening to the Buddha (shômon, shrâvaka)
along with those who are partially enlightened
due to various kinds of karmic circumstances (engaku, pratyekabuddha)
who dwell in the forests and the mountains
are abiding in their last incarnations
and have obtained the fruition of the Dharma
through listening to its discourse.
These people are like the medicinal herbs
who have grown and come to their fulfillment.
When it comes to the bodhisattvas
who are steadfast in their wisdom and discernment
whose minds can penetrate into the three realms [where 1) sentient beings have appetites and desires 2) which are incarnated in a subjective materiality with physical surroundings and 3) who at the same time are endowed with the immateriality of the realms of fantasies, thoughts and ideas],
who are on the quest
for the supreme vehicle to enlightenment,
then these people are like smaller trees
that will thrive and grow.
Furthermore there are those people
who spend their time in contemplation (zen)
and discover the far reaches of their minds (jinzûriki).
When they hear that all dharmas
are the immateriality of noumena. [or the space between atomic particles] (kû),
their minds are filled
with an all-embracing gladness.
They emit innumerable rays of light
[which are good vibrations]
so as to ferry sentient beings
across the seas of living and dying
to the shore of nirvana.
Such people are like big trees
that grow, thrive and flourish.
Makakashô, it is all just like this.
The Dharma which the Buddha expounds
is like an enormous cloud
which through its moisture of rain
that has but a single flavour
irrigates and enriches
the flowers that are real people,
so that each can attain
one's own realization.
Makakashô, you should indeed know
that by means of stories
whose causes and karmic circumstances
correspond with each other (innen)
as well as all sorts of parables
the Buddha opens and reveals his path.
It is by such expedient means
that are also put to use by all Buddhas.
Now I am explaining to you
a matter that is most real.
Not one of those individuals who exert themselves
to attain the highest stage of the individual vehicle
through listening to the Buddha
has ever passed over to nirvana.
What should be practiced
is the path of the bodhisattvas.
Through gradually studying
and practicing along the path
all of you everywhere
must become Buddhas (jôbutsu) [which is for people to open up their inherent Buddha nature with their persons just as they are].