Ways of Being Religious in the Lotus Sūtra: Themes for Interreligious Reflection and Dialogue Honoring Gene Reeves (1933-2019), with Deep Gratitude*

Abstract

This paper examines the message, content, and import of the Lotus Sūtra from a four-point framework proposed by the late Frederick Streng Jr., in his work Ways of Being Religious (with Charles Lloyd et al.), which provides a working definition of "religion" as a way of ultimate transformation that includes (1) a view of the human problematic, (2) teaching on ultimate reality and human ultimate destiny as a resolution of that problematic, (3) prescriptions for religious praxis toward the attainment of that ultimate destiny, and (4) social expressions that bond the community of adherents. The paper goes on to suggest themes for comparative reflection and interreligious dialogue issuing forth from the four points that mark the Lotus Sūtra's religious message, specifically naming resonant issues in Christian theology, such as on the dual nature of the human condition (as depraved and yet at the same time saved by grace—simul justus et peccator); the personal and impersonal dimensions of Divine Reality, self-power, and Other-power in religious praxis, religious faith, and socioecological engagement. In sum, a rereading of the Lotus Sūtra may provide insight into issues under discussion in other religious traditions.

The Lotus Sūtra contains a rich treasury of teachings and stories that have won people's hearts through the ages, rightly regarded as the most influential Buddhist scriptural text in East Asia throughout its history. It has motivated followers and devotees toward various forms of religious and devotional practice and has also inspired thinkers from later eras to elaborate and delve further on the deeper layers of the view of ultimate reality conveyed in the sutra, coming from mainstream Mahāyāna and deriving from the world of enlightenment of the Buddha. As such, it presents itself as a fertile ground for further exploration and inquiry from comparative philosophical, theological, and interreligious perspectives.

This paper will map out key areas that call for interreligious dialogue and reflection, taking a fourfold framework for understanding "religion" proposed by the late Frederick J. Streng as a reference point.¹ First, whatever is to be considered as belonging to this category of "religion" or "religious tradition" offers a view of the (1) problematic of the human condition that calls for resolution. Second, it presents a (2) view of ultimate reality and human ultimate destiny that is understood as the resolution of the human problematic. Third, it gives (3) prescriptions toward the individual person's appropriation and realization of this ultimate reality and ultimate destiny, through undertaking specific attitudes and/or practices. Fourth, it generates (4) social expressions, including the formation of communities of followers who live their lives in society in the light of and/or inspired by their religious vision.²

We will examine the Lotus Sūtra against the backdrop of this fourfold framework, giving a rough sketch of salient themes, and in the concluding section, highlight some issues for comparative philosophical or theological reflection and interreligious dialogue, with Christian themes as points of reference.

The human condition: a two-sided reality

The Lotus Sūtra abounds in stories and parables that illustrate a view of the "problematic of the human condition." The second chapter (Skillful Means) offers this scenario:

With the eyes of a buddhaI see beings in the six realmsReduced to extreme povertyWithout merit or wisdomOn the dangerous roadOf birth and death.In continuousUnending suffering,They are firmly rooted in the five desiresLike an ox chasing its own tail.Blinded by greed and desire,They are blind and can see nothing.³

Human beings are among those living beings (also referred to as "sentient beings") trapped in six realms that remain subject to birth and death and rebirth based on the laws of karmic causality. This cosmological framework is inherited from the Hindu tradition, which differentiates six levels of beings caught in the cycle of birth and rebirth (samsāra), with the successive rebirths based on the karmic residue left by previous ones. The six realms are the (1) hell dwellers, (2) hungry ghosts (preta), (3) beasts, (4) humans, (5) demigods (āsuras), and (6) heavenly beings (devas). As long as one remains within this cycle and undergoes the kinds of life within these six realms, one's existence is marked by suffering and dissatisfaction, "like an ox chasing its own tail, blinded by greed and desire."

The Hindu tradition lays out the first two of the four things humans want and spend most of their time and effort in pursuing in this earthly life as pleasure (kāma), power, prestige, and possessions (artha), wherein this description of being "blinded by greed and desire" most aptly fits. The third kind of human pursuit, duty (dharma), refers to the observance of one's obligations stipulated by one's social class or caste, but remains within the realm of finite pursuits that cannot serve to liberate one from this cycle of birth and rebirth. It is when one becomes aware of the tediousness and the suffering and dissatisfaction inherent in being confined to this cycle of birth and rebirth that another kind of endeavor in one's life springs up in one's heart, that is, the pursuit of liberation (moksha) from this cycle of birth and rebirth.

This is the liberation that the Buddha had pursued, and has realized, and now from this liberated and awakened perspective ("with the eyes of a Buddha") he looks with compassion upon the beings still caught in the six realms "in continuous unending suffering."

Chapter 3 (The Parable) highlights this condition of human beings using the image of children trapped in a burning house and still continuing in their trivial pursuits, not realizing that they are in danger. At center stage in this parable is the Elder who is the father of all the children trapped in the burning house, representing the All-Compassionate Buddha, who tries out different ways and means to save his children from their dangerous predicament. We may include the other five kinds of beings in the six realms as in the same situation as humans in this regard.

The Elder himself rushes into the burning house,

Intending to rescue the children,And keep them from being burned in the fire …So he told his children of the many dreadful troubles (awaiting them)…But the children didn't understandThough they heard their father's warnings,They remained absorbed in their gamesAnd did not stop playing." (123)…For their sake, the BuddhaUses skillful means to teach the Way.

Another notable parable describing the human condition is in chapter 4 (Faith and Understanding), with the story of the son who wanders far away from his rich father's home for a long time, and after many many years, by chance happens to find himself near his father's (and his own) home again (141–157). The son, now having become a mature man himself, having gone through much of his vagabond life as poor and destitute, does not recognize his aged father, but the latter recognizes him at first glance. To bring back his son's memory so as to be able to recognize his own home and heritage, the father devices all manner of skillful means to entice him on to get closer to him. He finally succeeds after a longwinded process that takes twenty years of effort and guidance, upon which,

He announced: "This is my sonWho left me and went off somewhere for fifty years …All that I have, houses and peopleI give entirely to him.He is free to use them as he wishes."

The sixteenth chapter (The Lifetime of the Tathāgata), which is said to contain the central teaching of the Lotus Sūtra (LS) (which we will also examine in the next section on the LS teaching on ultimate reality and destiny), presents a view of humans as likened to children of a physician who is "wise and clever and knows how to make medicines for curing all." (294) Unfortunately, while he is away on a trip, his own children have swallowed some poison, "which drives them into deliriums of agony and leaves them writhing on the ground." (ibid.) The wise and skilled physician, it goes without saying, is the Buddha himself, who devises skillful means to save his own children from the poison that causes them suffering and agony.

These images from various chapters present a unified teaching about the human condition trapped in the six realms, in need of being liberated from this cycle of dissatisfaction and suffering. There are two interrelated facets that emerge from these scriptural texts. On the one hand, human beings are mired in this dissatisfactory state as they live their lives driven by greed, anger, and ignorance. This is "the bad news." On the other hand, human beings, however miserable a situation they may be in, are the children of the Buddha who cares for them and seeks to save them, and on behalf of whom the Buddha continually exerts skillful means so they may recognize their situation and thus be liberated from it. This is "the good news." This two-sided message then provides us with the locus for understanding the problematic of the human situation in the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra, as well as its resolution.

Human beings, insofar as they ignorantly and thoughtlessly spend their efforts and energies in pursuing pleasure, power, prestige, possessions, and even their social duty, will never be able to escape the trap of suffering and dissatisfaction that is an inherent mark of their mode of existence. But in the midst of this, the Lotus Sūtra bears the good news that human beings are children of the Buddha, and unbeknownst to ordinary humans still caught in the blind pursuit of desire and blinded by ignorance, the Buddha who compassionately cares for them is watching over them, exerting all kinds of efforts and skillful means to awaken them from their bleak situation and be liberated from it.

This understanding of human (and other kinds of living) beings as children of the Buddha is at the foundation of the Mahāyāna doctrine that "all sentient beings are endowed with Buddha nature." This teaching about the Buddha nature inherent in all living beings comes to be developed in later centuries, as thinkers and practitioners of the Lotus Sūtra continued to reflect on the implications of what it means to be a "child of the Buddha." "All sentient beings are endowed with Buddha Nature" becomes a central tenet of Mahāyāna Buddhism, by way of the Tathāgathagarbha Doctrine (Nyoraizō-shisō 如来蔵思想), developed around the fourth or fifth century of the common era.⁴

In sum, the Lotus Sūtra presents the human condition as two-dimensional. On one level, it describes the existential reality of suffering and dissatisfaction that human beings go through in this life as a result of their mindless pursuit of pleasure, power, possessions, and prestige. But as it lays out the misery of the human condition with engaging narratives and picturesque imagery, a more important dimension emerges from a reading of the Lotus Sūtra: it conveys a positive message about the underlying reality that tends to be forgotten, covered as it is by karmic debris as we humans continue to wade through the mud and wallow in our misery: we sentient beings in the six realms are endowed with the capacity to rise above all this, to awaken to a liberating Truth, that is, to realize our inherent nature as children of the Buddha and thus ultimately to find liberation from this suffering and misery. This latter dimension inherent in our human condition provides the entry point for the second element in the fourfold structure of the religious tradition issuing forth from the Lotus Sūtra, its view of ultimate reality and ultimate destiny.

Ultimate reality and destiny: buddha and dharma as one vehicle

In the sixteenth chapter, the Lotus Sūtra again brings up the theme of the Buddha as the father of all humans and of all sentient beings who beholds the world with eyes of wisdom and compassion, actively working to liberate them from their situations of suffering and dissatisfaction. In this chapter the focus is on a crucial fact that enables the Buddha to undertake this ceaseless activity on behalf of all living beings: his immeasurable life span.

Since I became a Buddha,Innumerable hundreds of thousandsOf billions of countlessNumbers of eons have passed.For countless eons I have taught the Dharma ceaselessly,Teaching and transformingInnumerable hundreds of millions of living beingsEnabling them to enter the Buddha way.

(295)

This revelation of an immeasurable life span marks a radical transformation of the understanding of Buddha, who was considered by earlier followers to be a human being like us but who attained an exceedingly sublime status of an Awakened One liberated from suffering, to a supra-human figure with an immeasurable life span, liberated from the cycle of birth and death and has transcended the restrictions of earthly space and time, and from this vantage point, regards sentient beings and leads them toward awakening, using all manner of skillful means for this purpose.

For early Buddhist followers, the Buddha was a human being like us, born in a palace in Kapilavastu, and who acutely experienced the dissatisfactory condition that being human entails while still in his youthful years. He left home and forsook his social status and privilege to devote his heart in search for a resolution to life's questions and undertook intense meditative practice. He found liberation in awakening to the Dharma at a place called Magadha. He began expounding the Dharma at a Deer Park in Sarnath and spent the rest of his life in this activity of teaching this Dharma to others for their own liberation and awakening, continuing until his entry into Nirvana at the age of eighty at a place called Kusinara.⁵

Here in the sixteenth chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha is now depicted as a supra-mundane being with divine-like status who has lived for innumerable eons and has been actively engaged in teaching the Dharma to all kinds of living beings throughout immeasurable time spans. How does this supra-human figure of the Buddha relate to the human Siddhārtha Gautama, the Buddha who taught the Dharma to his followers, and at the at the age of eighty, died and entered into nirvana?

The Lotus Sūtra's teaching is that the Buddha only simulated his passing and entry into nirvana—in reality has always been teaching the Dharma across the ages, in different modes and different contexts. Due to the blindness and perversity of human beings (196), they are not able to see him in his activity, even though he is always there preaching the Dharma to them. Using skillful means, the Buddha takes on a human form, goes through the motions of undertaking a spiritual search and being awakened, teaching his followers about how they too might awaken to the Dharma, and becomes an endearing figure to his followers. After living through a normal human life span, he makes himself appear as to have passed on and entered into nirvana. He hints at the purpose of having taken on such an appearance and then disappearing from their sight.

For the sake of ordinary, perverse peoplethough truly alive, I say I am extinct.If people see me all the time,They become arrogant and selfish,Indulge in the five desires without restraintAnd fall into evil paths.

(298)

In contrast,

When many see me as extinctThey make offerings to my remains everywhereAll long for me,Adore and yearn for me.

(96)

This is the rationale given in the Lotus Sūtra to account for the discrepancy between the received teaching that the Buddha has entered into nirvana and is now extinct on the one hand, and this new emphasis of the sutra that the Buddha has always been alive and continues to preach the Dharma to all manner of sentient being using all manner of skillful means, on the other. The point here is that the Buddha (Tathāgata = Thus Gone to the other shore of nirvana, and Thus Come back to the world of sentient beings to guide them to liberation) continues and will continue to be an abiding presence and is actively engaged in different ways and forms to sentient beings in all manner of contexts and needs.

I always know which living beingsPractice the Way and which do not.In accord with what they need to be saved,I share various teachings for them.

(298–299)

In the Lotus Sūtra's view of ultimate reality and human ultimate destiny, this figure of the Tathāgata of Immeasurable Life, a compassionate Father caring for all sentient beings who are his children, looms in the foreground. It provides a reassurance for the faithful followers that they are held and beheld by One who cares for them as a loving parent cares for his own children and that they are given assistance in their aspirations, especially in the central concern of all sentient beings, which is to be liberated from this world of suffering.

I am the father of this worldHealing all who suffer or are sick …I am always thinking:"How can I lead the livingTo enter the unexcelled wayAnd quickly perfect their Buddha-bodies?"

(298–299)

The "ultimate destiny" that awaits human and other forms of sentient beings is hinted here, in the phrase "quickly perfect their Buddha-bodies," and has become like the Awakened one, their Father who has "gone beyond" this world of suffering, but who has also "come back" to engage in salvific action for all.

What does it take to become an Awakened One? This is another facet to ultimate reality that the Lotus Sūtra also presents with equally strong emphasis: Dharma, the liberating Truth, which the Buddha realized and which thus makes him Buddha in the first place.

In the seventeenth chapter, we see the close interdependence, or better, the inseparability of Buddha and Dharma.

The Buddha has taught a rare DharmaNever heard before.The powers of the World-Honored One are great.His lifetime is beyond estimation.Countless children of the BuddhaHearing the World-Honored One analyzeAnd tell of the enrichment they will obtain from the DharmaHave been filled with joy.

(302)

What then does the Lotus Sūtra teach about this Dharma that is the source of liberation and joy for all sentient beings? This is the Dharma that the Buddha has realized, the very realization of which is what makes him Buddha. We go back to the second chapter to elucidate this.

I say to you, ShariputraThat I have already fully attainedThe flawless, amazing, profoundAnd supremely wonderful Dharma.

(80)

This is the Dharma that this entire sutra is about, with its very title, Sūtra of the Wonderful Dharma Likened to a Lotus Flower. It must be made clear at the outset, that

This Dharma is indescribableWords must fall silent.Among other kinds of living beings,None can understand it,Except the bodhisattvasWhose faith is strong and firm.

(76–77)

All other sentient beings than those bodhisattvas are given guidance in coming up to this level gradually to be able to realize the ineffable Dharma, through the various skillful means used by the Buddha, based on their particular levels of understanding. How then are we to articulate this ultimate reality, which is repeatedly emphasized as "indescribable," beyond all words, beyond all thought? As noted above, this is the Dharma that has been realized only by Buddha, and therefore,

"no more needs to be said. Why? Because what the Buddha has achieved is most rare and difficult to understand. Only among buddhas can the true character of all things be fathomed."

(76)

Here the Lotus Sūtra goes on to lay out another of its key teachings, considered on par in importance with the teaching on the immeasurable life of the Buddha. This is the famous teaching about the "ten suchnesses" or "ten attributes (or aspects) of reality."⁶

"every existing thing has such characteristics, such a nature, such an embodiment, such powers, such actions, such causes, such conditions, such effects, such rewards and retributions, and yet such a complete fundamental coherence."

(78)⁷

These ten aspects pertain to "'the ultimate reality of all things,' realized only between a Buddha and a Buddha."⁸ In a volume presenting his insights on the Lotus Sūtra, Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh writes that "the meaning of the ten suchnesses can be distilled into one thing: the Buddha's wisdom is very deep and with this insight he is able to see the true nature, the ultimate reality of everything—all dharmas, in time and in space, in the phenomenal world as well as the ultimate dimension." (Hanh 2003:14)

In short, lining up the "ten suchnesses" is another way of describing "the way things are as they are" or "the true aspect of all dharmas" (yathābhūtam in Sanskrit, 諸法実相, shohō-jissō in Japanese), as they are seen by the Awakened One.

"The Tathāgata has insight (= knows and sees) into the character of the threefold world as it really is. For him there is no birth or death, neither retreat from nor emergence into the world. Nor is there any existing in the world and entering extinction following that. Nothing is simply real, nothing simply empty, nothing as it seems, nothing the opposite. The threefold world is not as we experience it. The Tathāgata sees all such things clearly, without mistake."

(291)

The above passage is about the way Buddha sees reality, "not in the way as we (sentient beings) experience it," namely in a way that we can only describe in words using opposite terms that seem to cancel each other out: "no birth or death, neither retreat from nor emergence into the world," no "existing in the world and entering extinction following that," "(n)othing … simply real, nothing simply empty, nothing as it seems, nothing the opposite."

This way of describing how Buddha "sees all such things" as such resonates with and is a further elaboration of the notion of Emptiness (śūnyatā), the central term in the Mahāyāna Wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā) sutras, as a way of articulating ultimate reality.⁹

There is a passage in the fifth chapter (Parable of the Plants) in the Sanskrit version but does not appear in Kumārajīva's translation, which calls our attention.¹⁰

All things are equal, are empty, devoid of characteristics:Whoever does not desire any of these things,and who sees things without making distinctions,That is a GreatWise One, who sees the body of Dharma in its entirety(dharmakāyam aśesatah)(And sees that) there are not three vehicles, there is this only Onevehicle indeed.All things are equal, all are the same, always the same.One who knows thus, knows nirvana, deathlessness, beatitude.

(Vaidya 1960:96)¹¹

The Great Wise One, the Buddha, is the one who sees the Dharma, which also means "all things in their entirety" (dharmas, in the plural), just as they are, as One Vehicle. Conversely, seeing the Dharma, seeing all things as equal, as the same, as always the same, is to be one who knows nirvana, that is, Buddha.

In this connection, Tiantai scholar Brook Ziporyn points us to what he regards as "one of the most momentous lines in the (Lotus) sutra" (Ziporyn 2016:128):

Though I have taught nirvanaIt is not truly extinctionAll things, originally and naturally,Have the character of tranquil extinction.

(90)

The teaching of Nirvana as understood by the early disciples was about the end of suffering, the end of the cycle of birth and death (samsāra), and for them this signified extinction, that is, the total cessation of the cycle of birth and death. But in chapter 16 on the Lifetime of the Tathāgata, his having entered nirvana (having become extinct) was revealed as only a teaching of skillful means, but in reality, he is alive and active and constantly preaching the Dharma of the One Vehicle in various forms and using various methods. Summarizing his own analysis and elaboration of the Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra, Ziporyn writes that "the One vehicle is all that exists in the universe, that the universe itself is the One Vehicle. All dharmas are nothing but the One Vehicle." (128) This understanding of the One Dharma is in accord with the central Mahāyāna teaching on a nondual vision of ultimate reality, the vision seen by the Tathāgata, whereby all opposites converge. "All things, originally and naturally, have the character of tranquil extinction (nirvana)." In other words, samsara is nirvana, nirvana is samsara.¹²

This teaching of the Lotus Sūtra that all reality consists in One Vehicle (ekayāna) integrates the teaching about the Buddha of the immeasurable life span as taught in chapter 16, and the understanding of the Dharma and the "true aspect of all dharmas" as taught in chapter 2, and affirms the nondual character of ultimate reality and all worldly phenomena.¹³ In other words, the teaching of the One Vehicle merges the Dharma with the One who sees the Dharma (i.e., Buddha). It is about an inclusive, unifying truth that encompasses all things in the universe and subsumes all ways of articulating truth found in other traditions. We will reflect on this further in our concluding section below on Interreligious Reflections.

The Lotus Sūtra's view of ultimate reality is not given in a systematic and structured format in the sutra itself, but is doled out in glimpses and allusions through the narratives and rich imagery in verse and in prose. It is for later commentators over the centuries to pick up these various elements found in the Lotus Sūtra and formulate a coherent framework for understanding of "what the Buddha saw" and provide us with a coherently articulated systematic Buddhist vision of reality grounded in the teaching of the LS. Of these later commentators, the most widely referred to and most influential is Tiantai Master Zhiyi (535–596).¹⁴

Zhiyi brings the Lotus Sūtra's view of ultimate reality to a new level of systematization and formalization, with his formulation of the three truths (of Emptiness 空= Real Truth; provisional reality 仮＝ = conventional truth; the Middle Path 中 = integration of the previous two)¹⁵ and the vision of "three thousand realms in a single moment of experience (一念三千、 yī niàn sàn qian, Japanese, ichinen sanzen)."¹⁶ Underlying this vision is the doctrine of the interpenetration of the ten realms (Ch., shi jiè hú jù, J., jikkai-gogu, 十界互具). The ten realms (also translated as ten destinies where living beings go, in Sanskrit, gati) consist of the six realms of living beings trapped in the cycle of birth and rebirth as described earlier, plus the realms of those on the way to liberation from this cycle, namely the realm of the hearer of the Word of the Buddha (śrāvaka) who has now taken on the path of liberation through a life of observance of the precepts (śīla), meditation (samādhi), and pursuit of wisdom (prajñā); the realm of the solitary enlightened ascetics (pratyeka-buddha) who have taken on a path to awakening apart from a community and without a guiding teacher; the bodhisattvas who have undertaken a path of awakening and liberation not just for themselves but on behalf of all other beings; and the realm of the Buddha, one who is thoroughly liberated and sees everything with eyes of wisdom and a heart of compassion.

Grounded on the Lotus teaching that all living beings are children of the Buddha, affirming that the capacity for awakening, that is, the inherent nature of Buddha, pervades through all beings in these ten realms, Zhiyi lays out these ten realms as contained in, or as interpervading each other, that is, with each one containing in itself the nine others. In other words, taking the human as a standpoint, to be human is to contain within one's own being the inherent propensity and capacity to be a hell dweller, a hungry ghost, a beast, a demigod, and a heavenly being, as well as the capacity to become a hearer of the Word, a solitary enlightened ascetic, a bodhisattva, or a Buddha as such.

Ten realms multiplied by ten (as each one contains all the others) is one hundred. Multiplying this by the ten suchnesses, as included in each of these interpervading realms, results in one thousand. The one thousand realms, multiplied by the three types of worlds, that is, the world of sentient beings, the world of the five aggregates that make up existence (form, sensation, perception, thought, and consciousness), and world of the various lands that contain the other two, make up a total of 3,000, the totality of all the forms and modes of existence in the universe. Zhiyi's vision of ultimate reality then is captured in the formula, "three thousand realms in a single moment of life."

In sum, the Lotus Sūtra's teaching as expounded, developed, and further elaborated on by the Great Tiantai Master Zhiyi is an intricate and systematic framework laying out grand nondual vision of existence, which overcomes a dualistic differentiation of sentient beings and Buddha, of this cycle of birth and death and nirvana, of ultimate reality and worldly phenomena. The ultimate destiny for all sentient beings, the summit of perfection that all beings can ever attain, is to realize their true nature as Buddha. But what is important here is that this is now understood no longer as the attainment of a status that takes one beyond the realities of this-worldly phenomena, but as an ever-present reality that is realizable in any given moment of one's life. In short, ultimate reality is not in the world beyond, a "transcendent," but is right here in our midst, "immanent" in this earthly reality (the sahā world in Lotus terminology), and which devotees are called to transform into the Lotus Land through their religious practice.

Thirteenth-century Japanese Buddhist mystic and prophet Nichiren (1222–1282) (Anesaki 2015), one of the most influential Buddhist figures to come from this period (along with Pure Land Masters Hōnen and Shinran and Zen Master Dōgen) and whose legacy lives on beyond Japan and has made its mark on the global stage, took Zhiyi's cosmological vision of the interpervasiveness of the ten realms and the teaching on the "three thousand realms in a single moment of life" and sought to embody this Lotus teaching in his own life and career, through his "bodily reading" (身読 shindoku) of the Lotus Sūtra (Habito 1997, 1999a, b, 2008, 2019).¹⁷

Nichiren cites the works of Zhiyi frequently in many of his writings, which consist of formal treatises on Buddhist doctrinal themes that issue forth from the teachings of the Lotus Sūtra, as well as instructions and heart-to-heart messages to devotees of the Lotus. Whereas Zhiyi's writings were meant mainly for full-time monastic practitioners who had the training and background in Buddhist technical terminology, Nichiren's heart went to the ordinary people to whom he reached out with his way of rendering difficult concepts in accessible terms. For example, in describing the doctrine of the interpervasive nature of the ten realms with one another, he writes:

When you look at somebody's face, at times you see joy on it, at times you see anger, at times you see peace, at times that face expresses greed, at other times stupidity, and at other times adulation. Well: anger shows the Realm of Hell; greed shows the realm of Hungry Spirits; stupidity shows the Realm of Beasts; adulation shows the realm of asuras, joy shows the Realm of Devas (Gods); peace shows the Realm of Humans. The expressions you see on people's countenance show the six Realms of birth and rebirth. Concerning the Four Holy Realms, they are hidden and are not expressed in people's faces, but if you investigate (the matter) more clearly, you will find that they are also included (in the Realm of Humans) …

The impermanence of our human condition is an obvious fact before our eyes: is it not that a proof that our Realm of Humans includes the Two Vehicles of Shravakas and Pratyeka Buddhas?

Even as an evil person who does not care about anybody cannot help feeling for, and loving his wife and children. From this we can see that there is (at least) a beginning of the Bodhisattva Realm (in us human beings). … (I will admit) that it is difficult to see (in us human beings) a manifestation of the Buddha Realm. But since you have finally come to believe that all other nine Realms of existence are included in our human existence, do not refuse your faith concerning the last one. … The fact that a stupid person (such as myself) born in this Age of the Latter Dharma is able to believe in the Lotus Sūtra (is the best proof) that the Realm of Humans includes the Buddha realm.¹⁸

This gift of being able to render abstruse Buddhist doctrine in down-to-earth terms also served him well in presenting a simple form of religious practice centered on the Lotus Sūtra that ordinary people found readily accessible and attractive. We now turn to the Lotus Sūtra's prescriptions for religious praxis toward the attainment of ultimate reality and ultimate destiny.

Presciptions for religious praxis: lotus sūtra as object of devotion and contemplation

The Lotus Sūtra is replete with self-referential passages that advocate adherence and devotion to the sutra itself as a way of receiving the Buddha's immeasurable blessings. The title of the fourth chapter with the narrative of a rich and benevolent father and a wayward son who has lost his way back home is presented in Kumarājiva's Chinese translation by a compound with two characters, which respectively mean "faith" (信) and "understanding," (解) which Reeves translates precisely in this way. The significance of the title for this chapter is not explained at all in the chapter itself, but another way of rendering this compound in English is "understanding by faith." Suguro (1998:54–55) suggests that "this refers to the mental attitude of accepting faith … an honest heart." It is the acceptance of the Buddha's words in trust that opens one's heart to the benefits and blessings of the Buddha's teaching. The Sanskrit term that corresponds to this is adhimukti, which is itself a compound that is etymologically traceable as "to turn the mind towards" (adhi) and liberation (mukti = moksa), which in many contextual usages also means "trust, confidence, resolution." Taking cue from Edgerton's dictionary, it can also mean "zealous about, actively interested in, devoted to …" With the above in mind, an underlying attitude of religious praxis conveyed in the LS is its acceptance in trust that it will lead the practitioner (of the LS) toward the desired goal of attaining one's ultimate destiny.

The seventeenth chapter (The Variety of Blessings) lays out what such an acceptance in trust entails.

If people, after my extinction,Are able to honor and embrace this sutra,Their blessings will be immeasureable …It is though they had madeAll kinds of offerings,And for the Buddha's remains had put up stupasAdorned with the seven precious materials ……If anyone with faith and understandingReceives, embraces, reads, recites, and copies this sutraOr even causes others to copy it,And makes offerings to the sutra,…Anyone who makes such offeringsWill obtain innumerable blessings.

There are many more passages of a similar nature, and the point here is that the prescriptions for religious praxis consist in upholding this sutra as the authentic teaching of the Buddha, receiving, embracing, reading, reciting, and copying it toward its propagation. This point is further emphasized in the nineteenth chapter, on "The Blessings of the Dharma Teacher."

"Furthermore … if any good sons or good daughters, after the extinction of the Tathāgata, receive and embrace this sutra, or read it, recite it, preach it, or copy it, they will obtain twelve hundred blessings of the mind. When they hear even a single verse or phrase with their pure minds, they will deeply understand its innumerable and unlimited meanings. Having understood these meanings, they will be able to preach on that single phrase or verse for a month, four months, even a year. And their many teachings will be in accord with the meanings, and never contrary to the true nature of reality."

(333)

This injunction in the LS of its reception, propagation, and dissemination of copies inspired the launching of a cultural and religious movement through the centuries throughout East Asia whereby these "five practices of the Dharma Preacher" were taken as ways toward the full realization of the enlightenment of the Buddha. "The sutra was thought to embody the very reality that it describes, and through the veneration of the physical text this resident power could be brought to bear on all manner of needs, from the curing of illness to the realization of enlightenment itself" (Stevenson essay in Teiser and Stone 2008:147). On a historical note, this kind of regard for a scriptural text as on par with a sacred relic was not given exclusively to the Lotus Sūtra, but was part of a movement during that time that Gregory Schopen calls "the cult of the book" (Schopen 1975).

The widespread influence of the Lotus Sūtra in East Asian countries through many centuries was due in great part to the appeal of these devotional as well as cultural and social activities that could readily be taken up by people of all walks of life, monastic, and lay alike. Another devotional practice derived from the Lotus Sūtra that became widely popular is the veneration and invocation of the Bodhisattva Guanyin, whose marvelous attributes and powers to grant benefits to devotees in different kinds of difficult life situations are detailed in the twenty-fifth chapter (Reis-Habito 1993).

Such reverential and devotional attitudes and activities related to the scriptural text also find grounding in Tiantai Master Zhiyi's vision of ultimate reality and ultimate destiny based on the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra. Zhiyi's masterpiece, the Mohezhiguan (The Great Cessation and Contemplation, or simply, The Great Stopping and Seeing)(Swanson 2018),¹⁹ devotes the bulk of its discourse on the detailed instructions for and intricacies of meditative practice toward the cultivation and embodiment of this vision of ultimate reality in one's day-to-day life. These instructions and explanations were meant for those who had chosen to live dedicating their lives fully to the Dharma and its pursuit, notably monastic practitioners. These meditative and contemplative practices were undertaken and upheld in monastic communities of the Tiantai (Japanese = Tendai) tradition for centuries in East Asia.

While Nichiren's main doctrinal writings were addressed to and meant to be read by the intellectual and religious elite of his day, with the spiritual authority and sophistication of one able to cite scriptural texts and commentarial material in Chinese, his message was meant for ordinary people who did not have the leisure to give long hours to meditative practice, nor the educational or cultural background to read treatises written in Chinese. He introduced a simple way of practice that no less gave them access to the fullness of the Lotus teaching. This was his practice of giving homage to the august title of the Lotus Sūtra, through the recitation or chanting of the phrase Namu-Myōhō Renge-Kyō (南無妙法蓮華経) (see Stone 1998).

Nichiren sums up the rationale of this simple practice, accessible to all, even, or perhaps better, especially for the unlettered ordinary people, the farmers and fisherfolk and their families, soldiers, those displaced in society:

… one who knows the doctrine of the Lotus Sūtra will also know what is going to happen in the world. The Buddha will raise his great mercy towards those who do not know the doctrine of "three thousand realms in a single moment of life." He will wrap this jewel for them in the (Sacred Title of the) Five Characters, and will put it around the neck of the children of the Latter Age of Dharma …

(Kanjin Honzon Shō)²⁰

In this concluding paragraph of his Treatise on Contemplation of the True Object of Veneration (Kanjin Honzon Shō), Nichiren takes the breathtakingly panoramic vision of ultimate reality laid out by Zhiyi in his monumental work Mohozeguan and conveys it in stark simplicity as all contained in the august title of the Lotus Sūtra: Myō-hō-ren-ge Kyō. To recite or chant this august title then is to avail oneself of all the treasures of the universe, to embody the One Vehicle, and merge one's identity with Buddha and Dharma and everything that this contains.

This simple and straightforward prescription for religious practice incorporates and subsumes all the other religious practices and activities of devotion toward the Lotus Sūtra, as well as bringing forth all the fruits that long hours of protracted meditative practice can offer. This chanting of the august title is a direct way for an individual's appropriation of ultimate reality and ultimate destiny and also naturally unfolds in social expressions.

Social expressions and ultimate reality: this earthly realm as lotus land

As noted above, Nichiren's legacy includes his "bodily reading of the Lotus Sūtra," whereby he reads the text of the LS as shedding light on the events of his own personal life in the social context of his times, and vice versa, reading the events of his life in the light of the sutra's text (Habito 1999a, b, 2008).

Taking his cue, many of those who were attracted to Nichiren's religious vision and praxis also found themselves engaged in society and its transformation, toward bringing this earthly society (the sahā world) closer to becoming Lotus Land (Habito 2005:181–186).

Followers of Lotus Buddhism inspired by Nichiren grew in numbers through history and formed communities whose main form of religious practice was chanting the august title together, bolstering one another in their personal and social lives. In the early part of the twentieth century, as Japan entered into a period of much upheaval and turmoil leading up to the Second World War, and in the period of its aftermath, social groupings upholding the teaching and practice of the Lotus Sūtra with their own distinctive points of emphasis emerged and took root and made their mark on Japanese society. Noted individuals who were devotees of the Lotus Sūtra have made a mark in Japan's social and political history in markedly different ways, including nationalists like Tanaka Chigaku, militarists such as Ishihara Kanji, and pacifist socialists like Senō Girō, poet-farmer Miyazawa Kenji, among others. Lay religious movements founded by individuals inspired by the spirit and vision of the Lotus Sūtra that drew large followings saw their beginnings also during this period. These now continue to be influential not only in Japan but also on the global scene with their message of engagement toward the transformation of society and the earth for the sake of humanity and for all living beings (see Habito 1999a).

Themes for comparative reflection and interreligious dialogue

The fourfold framework of "religion" through which we explored the dimensions of the Lotus Sūtra enables us to identify themes that could serve impetus for further comparative study and reflection and/or as platforms for engaging in interreligious dialogue. Here is only a cursory survey of salient themes noted in our rough sketch above, and we look forward to how these may be taken up by others as ongoing tasks.

a. On the Human Condition

The two-sided view of the human condition conveyed in the Lotus Sūtra and the entire Buddhist movement and tradition inspired and generated by this scriptural text resonates deeply with an understanding of the human in Christian tradition. The Biblical narrative of human origins as depicted in the Book of Genesis begins with a positive affirmation of the entire universe as the creation of an Almighty and benevolent God, who beheld all things "and saw that it was very good." (Genesis 1:31). Humans came into being in the midst of this process of creation of the universe, created in the very image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), given a special faculty of reason and free will and a place to live an idyllic life in the Garden of Eden, but manage to spoil things with an act of disobedience. They find themselves exiled from the Garden and are consigned to a life of toil and sorrow (Genesis 3). This narrative is given as the scriptural source of the doctrine of "original sin," a theological view emphasizing the depravity and "fallenness" of human beings and, having lost the original goodness with which they were endowed, find themselves alienated from their status as created in the image of God. This is the "bad news." But Christianity is precisely about the "Good News," that is, that even though human beings have disobeyed God and messed things up in their own lives, "God so loved the world, as to send the only begotten Son, so that those who believe in him shall be saved." (John 3:16)

Christians who read the LS story of the children of the rich elder who are trapped in a burning house, or of the lost son who has wandered far away from his father's home, will find resonance in these themes and will readily be able to identify with the imagery as also applicable in a Christian setting: "We humans are in a mess, and we are in need of salvation." At the same time, Christian readers of the LS will appreciate and resonate with the "good news" proclaimed in these stories, namely that there is a Loving Father who cares for us endangered and lost children, who is actively working on our behalf using all manner of skillful means to save us from our plight and to save us, and we need only turn to him wholeheartedly and pay attention and recognize where his action touches our lives to bring us to salvation.

Martin Luther's description of the human as "simul justus et peccator" (both justified and yet a sinner, and conversely, a sinner but yet justified) comes up here as an apt expression that captures this two-faceted view of the human condition. Historically and sociologically, Western Christendom has tended to emphasize the "sinner" side, the aspect of fallenness and depravity of the human being and has thus bred attitudes of low self-esteem and a rather pessimistic view of humanity among many. Encountering the positive message of the Lotus Sūtra may serve to remind them that Christianity is also precisely about the Good News of salvation and that before there was "original sin," there was "original goodness." One may be led to move that the very term "original sin" itself needs to be "recalled," in that it misrepresents the pristine message of Genesis, that before there was any "sin," "God saw that it was good!" (Fox 2000), and that Good News, the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. (Matthew 3:2)

b. On Ultimate Reality and Destiny

The aspects of ultimate reality and ultimate destiny presented in the LS and the entire Lotus Buddhist tradition that follows, including the elaborations on the Wondrous Dharma in the writings of Tiantai Master Zhiyi, and in those of the mystical prophet Nichiren, offer truly fascinating points for reflection and further exploration for those seeking a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Triune Mystery of God in Christian tradition. The fusion of Buddha and Dharma, which together form the nondual and all-encompassing reality of the One Vehicle, cited above as comprising the central message of the Lotus Sūtra, brings up the philosophical/theological question of the dynamics of the polar notions of "personal" vs. the "impersonal," of "transcendence vs. immanence," and "particular vs. universal" in considering ultimate reality. Zhiyi's formulation of the Three Truths of Emptiness/provisional reality/Middle path may provide an avenue for elucidating these dynamics.

This is just a very brief summary of some key points to suggest further comparative theological reflection on ultimate reality and ultimate destiny, taking Lotus Buddhism as a way that could possibly shed light on the question of and quest for God in Christian tradition. The threefold "coincidence of opposites" noted above calls for closer inquiry and reflection, and the works of Nicholas of Cusa, of Pseudo-Dionysius, and other Christian mystical texts may suggest possible counterpoints in this regard.

There is much more to be said on comparative reflection and interreligious learning about views of ultimate reality and destiny in Lotus Buddhism and Christianity, but we will leave this for future tasks.

c. On Religious Practice

On comparative theological reflection and interreligious dialogue on religious practice, there are two facets that call for consideration. One can be called the "ascending phase" of religious practice, that is, the individual's endeavor to arrive at whatever is understood as the religious goal, be it awakening, be it union with the Triune God. The other facet is the "descending phase," which is the application and unfolding of whatever is realized in the ascending phase in order to bring it back to and enable it to make a difference in our everyday lives in our human society and in this earthly world of ours (Nagao 1991; Habito essay in Reeves, 2002).

The various acts of devotion toward the text of the LS, taught as on equal plane with devotional acts toward relics of the Buddha, bring forth points of comparison with devotional acts toward the relics associated with the historical life of Jesus (wood of the cross, the shroud of Turin, etc.) and also relics of the saints in Christian tradition. A comparative study of the role and significance of these devotional acts in these two traditions, the particular symbolisms that are brought into play, as well as the role of the body in these religiously motivated acts, may enrich both sides in the understanding of the liturgical dimension of their religious traditions.

Comparative theological reflection may also take up resonant themes in the devotions to the Bodhisattva Guanyin on the one hand and to the Virgin Mary the Mother of God on the other, considering the theme of the feminine dimension of the Divine. (Reis-Habito 1993 is one example.)

Meditation and contemplative practice, a key feature of Buddhist traditions throughout history, is a rich domain wherein Christians and people of other or of no religious tradition have found enrichment of their own lives. There has been an explosion of interest in Buddhist meditative and contemplative practice especially since the middle of the twentieth century, now with thousands of volumes published in Western languages written from theoretical, practical, and autobiographical perspectives. This is indeed significant contribution of Buddhism to global culture, and there is no need to elaborate further on this subject here, except to note the tremendous transformative power that engagement in some or other form of Buddhist meditative and contemplative practice has brought to many individuals who have tried them and have maintained sustained practice, including adherents of different religions, all the while continuing to remain in their respective religious traditions and communities. From the Lotus tradition, the publication of English translations of Zhiyi's major works has given English readers access to this important treatise on the stages and intricacies of the meditative and contemplative process that has exerted a major influence in East Asian Buddhist thought and spirituality for centuries (Cleary 1977; Donner and Stevenson 1993; Swanson 2018).

The central Lotus Buddhist practice of reciting/chanting the august title of the Lotus Sūtra may be seen in comparative light with Christian practices of reciting a sacred word during meditation or of repeating a sacred phrase as a form of prayer. The practice of the Hesychasts in the early centuries of Christian history, reciting the phrase "Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner" and synchronizing the recitation with the breathing, comes to mind in this regard.²¹ The Buddhalogical and Dharmalogical theoretical grounding behind the august title of the Lotus Sūtra, with the cosmological implications of the very act of chanting as articulated in Nichiren's writings, invites a closer study that may serve to shed light on and open new theological horizons for Christians who undertake and engage in forms of repetitive chanting within their own tradition. The positive transformative effect, bringing forth not only spiritual, but also "worldly" benefits, of engaging in a regular and sustained way in this religious act of chanting the august title, as attested to by numerous practitioners, also calls our attention, in seeking further light on how such effects are brought about and how they affect the religious consciousness of practitioners.

d. Religion and Social Transformation: Overcoming the Otherworldly Pitfall

The current situation of our global society, racked with violence on all fronts due to animosities and prejudice generated by a tribalistic "us vs. them" mentality that plays out on different levels (with racial, social, economic, and also regrettably, religious factors), facing the threat of major disasters and upheavals due to the worsening ecological deterioration of our Earth, and more, confronts all of us with an urgent wake-up call and momentous challenge especially to people of religious faith. The question is how religion may become an agent that moves us toward engaging ourselves in addressing our critical global situation, in alleviating and mitigating those animosities between human groupings, overcoming tribalistic mentalities, and transforming our social, economic, and political structures, instead of being a factor that exacerbates and aggravates these. To this end, dialogue and cooperation among adherents of different religious traditions are now regarded as the urgent task of our age. Indeed, initiatives in this regard have been and continue to be taken from various sides.

One crucial task for members of each particular religious community and tradition to take on is the question of the relationship between the ultimate reality and ultimate destiny that people of faith envision in the light of their religious beliefs and this mundane, earthly reality in which we live our human lives. The tension between "this-worldly life" and the "life hereafter" raises a pivotal question: if religion makes its adherents regard this life in the world as a "mere" stepping stone, a launching pad or even a "testing ground" for getting to "the other side," which could be conceptualized in different ways, such as "heaven," "Pure Land," "nirvana," then it would seem to follow that people of strong religious conviction will feel less motivated to engage themselves in activities toward social transformation and/or ecological healing, since these will be understood "merely" as secondary matters that are superseded by the main concern, that is, "to get one's eternal reward in the afterlife."

Concretely speaking, for Christians, if "getting to heaven" is one's primary value and goal in one's religious life and practice, then everything one does in this life on earth is seen merely as a prelude or a means to that main event, entry into heaven in the hereafter. If one takes any efforts at seeking in some way to engage the world and transform the world for the better, this will tend to be taken mainly like an "insurance policy" whereby "doing good in this life" becomes the condition for getting the carrot of heaven. One tends to do things here on earth with an eye to what reward or punishment one will reap in the next life, whether it be giving money to a charitable cause, helping the homeless through volunteering at a soup kitchen, or taking efforts at recycling, and so on, and not regarded as acts that are of value in themselves. This kind of "utilitarian" religion is easily liable to the critique of being another kind of self-serving, ego-centered way of life.

Similarly, for Buddhists, taking on religious practice with the motivation of "escaping the travails, the toil and trouble of samsara" to get to the idealized state of nirvana, or "working one's way toward a better rebirth in the next life," or getting to the Pure Land in the next life, may not differ too much from the utilitarian kind of religion described above. Such a dualistic, otherworldly centered kind of religion, whether it be Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and so on, tends to feed the ego through its religious teachings that promise reward and retribution, rather than becoming a motivation for overcoming our selfish tendencies and cultivating a spirit of generosity and altruism. If this is what religion is about, then religion as such may not be able to provide our global community with the vision and empowerment that would lead to genuine transformation of individuals and of society as a whole.

In this context, the religious vision offered by the Lotus Sūtra seems to point us in a different direction and offer a promising prospect. The teaching of the One Vehicle, a vision of the nonduality of ultimate reality and provisional (mundane) reality, with the understanding of this earthly realm as the field that is to be transformed into Lotus Land, provides a religious vision and concomitant religious practice directed at the transformation not only of our individual, personal lives, but of society, of the Earth as a whole. It promises not a reward of an afterlife, but a prospect of a transformed Earthly society, populated by bodhisattvas, individuals who seek awakening not just for themselves but on behalf of others.

In encountering such faithful devotees of the Lotus fully committed to socioecological transformation as an intrinsic feature of their religious praxis and empowered by their religious vision, adherents of other religions may be inspired to reexamine and reevaluate their own tradition's teachings about their ultimate religious goals and how these relate to living our lives on this earthly plane. For Christians, Lotus teaching may serve as an inspiration to recover some key themes that are also central, though underplayed in their own tradition. The affirmation of the goodness of all creation (in contrast with the undue on the depraved and fallen nature of humanity) and the confidence that there is a loving Triune God who cares for us and who guides us along our journey (in contrast with a punitive, judgmental God who is all too ready to send people to hell) are two points that can be highlighted. The recovery of the Good News that "the kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (rather than to be sought only in the afterlife) (Matthew 3:2, 4:17); the prayer that "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," (Matthew 6:10) may be reread with new appreciation. Christians may also be moved to gives their lives and work toward the realization of "a new heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21:1) and commit their lives to bringing about a scenario "whereby the poor hear the Good News, the broken-hearted are healed, the captives are freed, the blind recover their sight, the oppressed are liberated" (Luke 4:18). These will not be taken as referring to the afterlife, but as realities calling for fulfillment in the here and now (Luke 4:21). This is a kind of "incarnational" Christianity with a "realized eschatology" that would stand in contrast with an "otherworldly" or "futuristic" kind of Christianity that looks to the afterlife in heaven and neglects matters of tending to and caring for this Earth (see Habito 2013). How this dialectical tension between life in this world and the afterlife plays out in the life of Christians can be a crucial factor in whether Christians are able to join hands with others in our common task of healing and recovering the sacredness of our Earth, our common home.²²