January 20, 2025
LOTUS JEWELS（Nichiren Shu News NO244）
Those who dislike the world seeking the way of the Buddha by clinging to expedient teachings are like those who try to cut a tree by trimming the leaves and branches instead of chopping the trunk. They are similar to a dog who befriends a servant instead of its master, and to those who revere a monkey as Indra, or take pieces of tile or pebbles for gems. They are unreasonable. How can we discuss the Buddhist way with them?
—T’ien-t’ai, Great Concentration and Insight
Nichiren quotes this passage from T’ien-t’ai’s Great Concentration and Insight in his Shugo Kokka-Ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation. These similes challenge our own tendencies to settle for expedient teachings and remind us of the superiority of the Lotus Sutra, which revealed the Ever-Present Buddha Shakyamuni and the capacity for awakening shared by all beings. The question at the end of this passage reminds us that, even as we see people clinging to expedient teachings, we need to consider how to engage them and awaken their true natures. Using the guidance provided by Nichiren Shonin and our realizations as Bodhisattvas in this life to benefit all beings, we continue our Founder’s work to spread the Lotus Sutra to all worlds.
—Rev. Shinkyo Warner