Martin Bradley has returned to translating the Writings of Nichiren Daishônin effectively putting aside his painting endeavours. The Sô Kan Mon Shô is Nichiren's most concise explanation of the workings of existence and worthy of a fresh and more accessable translation. The project began last December 2007 and has trickled across the Atlantic where it has been converted from hand written faxes to web readiness.

Additions to the Glossary were also made or updated during 2007.

This site is located in Canada, another site located in Germany, hokkeko.de contains a partial mirror of this one as well as translations from English to German. The Webmaster is Michael Okoniewski.

I have been asked why not add other material relating to the Kômon School, well frankly I just haven't got around to it at this point.

This site was established January 2002 and was completely renovated about 4 years later or whenever I received permission to publish Martin's book. Since then we have worked together in presenting this important material to the world to teach and lead people towards Nam Myôhô Renge Kyô. As of December 31, 2010: hokkeko.ca has been shut down.

August 2008: Completed the Translator's Note by Martin. Finally after sorting all the single handwritten fax pages I posted it as a separate page under Chapter 4.

August 2009: The Dharma Flower Sutra Seen through the Oral Transmission of Nichiren Daishônin translation has been underway since Martin moved and settled in southern Japan last year. This lengthy project brings Nichiren's Oral Transmission (Ongi Kuden) as written down by one of his senior disciples Niko together with the Dharma Flower Sutra. Chapter 2 should be online very shortly.

December 31st, 2009: Completed Chapter 3. The new site dharmagateway.org will be a mirror of this one until the design is complete. In 2011 a new site will be established with more content including a Q&A, photo galleries and guest articles.

February 4, 2010: Added a section to the Preface on the ideograms of Nam Myôhô Renge Kyô that was the result of a question raised by one of our readers. Meanwhile we plod on with Chapter 4.

February 6, 2010: The Preface was updated, well worth rereading.

March 15, 2010: Completed Chapter 4. Tulips are in full bloom outside Martin's mountain residence in southern Japan. As a symbol of impermance flowers define the periods of the seasons. Soon the cherry blossoms (sakura) especially this year are expected to open March 21st, the arrival of Spring.

April 8, 2010: Updated the Preface with a detailed description of 'The ideograms of Nam Myôhô Renge Kyô' and 'The one instant of thought containing three thousand existential spaces.' Work on 'The 5th Chapter on the Parable of the Medicinal Herbs is resuming.'

May 9, 2010: The 5th Chapter on the Parable of the Medicinal Herbs has been completed. A description of Mount Sumeru was added to the Preface to give the reader a glimpse into the world view during Shākyamuni's and Nichiren's lifetimes.

May 27, 2010: Added a few paragraphs regarding Mount Sumeru to the Preface and Chapter 6 will be ready in June.

May 31, 2010: An explanation on Preposterous Numbers was added to the Preface.

June 2, 2010: The 6th Chapter on the Disclosure of the Future Record is uploaded.

October 12, 2010: The 7th Chapter on the Parable of the Imaginary City has been uploaded. Chapters 8 & 9 will be ready later this month. A few more paragraphs have been added to the Preface. Some topics were the result of discussions I had with followers of this work and Martin's response.

October 27, 2010: This posting sees Chapters 8 & 9 added to the work. Also moved the article Dharma versus dharma (previously at the bottom of this page) to the Preface.

November 28, 2010: Chapter 10 added along with some global updates of reconsidered translated word meanings. A minor design add-on, borders and the lotus flower wallpaper. Another new addition is the inclusion of Venerable Yamane's discourse on the wisdom that is derived from faith and devotion. Originally written in Japanese and translated by Martin earlier this month.

December 20, 2010 : Added another topic to the Preface making for a total of 8 sections.

February 2, 2011: The Nine Levels of Consciousness (kushiki) was added to the Preface. We are currently working on Chapter 11 which will be published this month.

February 17, 2011: Uploaded Chapter 11. Wonderful to hear from some of the independent Nichiren Buddhists from various parts of the planet. Martin and I sincerely hope you find encouragement and insight reading Nichiren's explanation of this epic "Bollywood" production called the Dharma Flower Sutra. It gets better.

February 23, 2011: Another tooth-combing of the Dharma Flower Sutra making punctuation corrections including Martin's explanatory notes.

April 1, 2011: The 12th Chapter on Daibadatta (Devadatta) contains the story of the dragon king's daughter which challenges Brahmanical opinions on the role of women. Over the course of the last month updates to the various chapters have taken place. This effort is thanks to Harley White who has applied a keen eye to our efforts with many suggestions for improving the ease of reading this ancient text.

April 25, 2011: Chapter 13 completed. Chapters 1 & 2 re-edited. Some Sanskrit words added along with the Japanese names.

May 10, 2011: The Translation of Myô inserted into the Preface.

June 9, 2011: The 14th Chapter on Practicing in Peace and with Joy has been added amid recent calamities that have devasted the people of Japan including a tsunami, a typhoon and three nuclear reactor meltdowns. These and other earth changing events pit man against nature, the oligarchs, other people and himself. These translations of Nichiren's teachings are addressing the troublesome worries that occupy our minds.

July 15, 2011: Added The 15th Chapter on the Bodhisattvas who swarm up out of the Earth. Several new and updated topics have been attached to the Preface, as well, another proof-reading up to Chapter 3 has been completed. At present the 16th chapter is being worked on and I hope to have it up sometime in August. Martin has been churning out page after page throughout this typhoon season and mailing them to me in batches.

August 28, 2011: The end of August with a few more topics added to the Preface for a total of 15. Harley has been active in reviewing the existing chapters, so now Chapters 1 to 6 have been updated. Meanwhile Chapter 16 has been a slow effort for me.

October 24, 2011: At last, the most profound chapter of the whole Dharma Flower Sutra, the 16th Chapter on the Lifespan of the Tathâgata has been completed. This capsulates the teachings of Nichiren and deserves your careful reading. Several topics have also been added to the Preface for a total of 22.

November 22, 2011: This entry marks the earlier inclusion of Chapters 17 and today's Chapter 18. Behind the scenes these chapters have undergone numerous updates to address punctuation and readability issues.

December 29, 2011: Here we are at the edge of another year and past the halfway point of this great translation project. The 19th Chapter on the Meritorious Virtues of the Teacher of the Dharma who Propagates the Dharma Flower Sutra and new topics to the Preface have been added. Also Harley and I have done a fair bit of tweaking to the chapters over the past few months. Martin continues at a steady pace with a constant steadfast spirit.

And we plod on. . .

Gerhard Lenz
Webmaster, Publisher & Editor (to email me click on my name)