Chapter 3: The Wheel of the Dharma
“Thereupon Great – Universal – Wisdom – Excellence Tathāgata, having assented to the appeals made by the Brahmā-heavenly-kings of the worlds of the ten quarters and also by the sixteen princes, turned the wheel of the teaching [of the four truths] three times, making twelve proclamations altogether. The wheel of this teaching could not be turned by any other one in the world, be he a śramana, a brāhman, a god, Māra or Brahmā. The Buddha said, ‘This is suffering. This is the cause of suffering. This is extinction of suffering. This is the Way to extinction of suffering.’” (Adapted from The Lotus Sūtra p.140)
The “Wheel of Dharma” in Buddhism means the teaching that the Buddha expounded to free all of life from the effects of suffering. In his first sermon, the Buddha taught the Middle Way and the four noble truths. He preached this sermon to the five ascetics, who were his former companions during his own ascetic phase of practice. These five became his first five disciples when they responded to his teaching by taking refuge in the Three Treasures. The Middle Way and the four noble truths are the foundations for all the Buddha’s teachings. All schools of Buddhism recognize their validity and importance. The Three Treasures are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha – The Teacher, the Teaching, and the Community that upholds and follows the teaching. From the very beginning of Buddhism, taking refuge in the Three Treasures was the way to express one’s sincere commitment to follow the Buddha Dharma. The Three Treasures are fundamental to all schools of Buddhism. This chapter explains the meaning and importance of the Middle Way, the four noble truths, and the Three Treasures, both as the basic teachings of Śākyamuni Buddha and as they are understood and practiced within the context of the Lotus Sūtra.
The Buddha began his first sermon by revealing the Middle Way between self-indulgence and self-denial. The ideal of the Middle Way is to live a life of harmony and equilibrium by escaping excessive self-involvement. To live in accord with the Middle Way, the Buddha taught that one must follow the “noble eightfold path.” This path is also the fourth of the four noble truths which the Buddha explains after discussing the Middle Way. The noble eightfold path refers to a way of life whereby every thought, word, and deed is authentic and in accord with the living moment. The Middle Way is a way of living and acting that is genuine and not forced. It takes into account all the dynamics of the present situation in order to act in a way that will bring maximum benefit for all concerned. The follower of the Middle Way avoids fanaticism, fundamentalism, or legalism and acts with genuine insight and compassion in every situation. In this way, every aspect of life becomes an expression of the freedom and selflessness which is the Middle Way.
Four Noble Truths
After teaching the Middle Way, the Buddha proceeded to teach the four noble truths. These four are: the truth of suffering, the truth of the origin of suffering, the truth of the cessation of suffering, and the truth of the means of ending suffering, which is the eightfold path.
The truth of suffering is that life is incapable of providing us with permanent fulfillment or security. The noble truth of suffering may strike some as too obvious to mention and others as overly pessimistic depending on one’s temperament. However, the first noble truth is neither pessimistic nor all that obvious. The word translated as “suffering” could just as easily be translated as “anguish” or “dissatisfaction.” It indicates a whole spectrum of feeling, ranging from the subtle vulnerability and uneasiness of simply being alive to the outright suffering of mortality. This is not a wholesale condemnation of life, but simply a critical evaluation of life’s unsettling and unstable nature. It is a very rare person who can claim that life is totally blissful and free of trouble, pain, and disappointment. Thoreau’s description of the “life of quiet desperation” would probably apply to most people. The majority, however, very rarely admit that this is just the way things are. Many even seem to feel that they have been robbed or cheated out of the happiness and security that life was supposed to give them, never realizing that life provides no such guarantees. In order to help people overcome their naive assumptions, and to encourage those who have become bitter and disappointed, the truth of suffering teaches us to recognize the facts courageously with both eyes open. Once we have realized the truth, we can find true happiness, having broken free of the illusion that happiness is a guarantee.
Even the simple act of chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō expresses this truth. The word “Namu” means “I devote my life” or “I take refuge in” and it expresses the need to take refuge and devote ourselves wholeheartedly to the Teaching of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, Myōhō Renge Kyō. If life were perfect, we probably would not feel the need to seek out and dedicate ourselves to the highest truth, expressed by Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. The expression of such a need is an acknowledgment of the noble truth of suffering.
Next, the Buddha taught the second noble truth about the causes and conditions that bring about suffering and dissatisfaction. The truth of the origin of suffering teaches that suffering is caused by the craving for happiness. This craving is the result of the unrealistic expectation that life should be a source of unchangeable happiness, the illusion eliminated by the first noble truth. Craving is what transforms the sometimes painful life process into a life characterized by subtle agitation and anxiety even under the best circumstances. In the worst circumstances, it can make life an ongoing cycle of agony and unbearable suffering. Thus, while external circumstances can indeed bring about uncomfortable or tragic experiences, it is the internal craving that turns mere pain into suffering. Indeed, craving can even spoil pleasant circumstances with its incessant demands and impoverished outlook on life. All of this is not to deny or denigrate the experience of affliction, exploitation, or tragedy. The point is that when one lets craving compound painful circumstances with emotional suffering, then one has truly given up one’s power. Then one is destined to be controlled by the forces of greed, anger, and ignorance which are naturally generated in reaction to suffering.
The second noble truth introduces the idea of “dependent origination” that teaches “because of this, there is that.” Nothing, including suffering, stands on its own without causes and conditions. If suffering has causes and conditions, then there is the possibility of transforming the situation by changing those causes and conditions. The Buddha also stated that dependent origination is the Dharma itself. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, dependent origination is taught as “emptiness,” because there are no independent, substantial, unchanging phenomena anywhere to be found. This is not a nihilistic or bleak emptiness however; rather, it is a boundless, wonderful, and mysterious emptiness that allows things to be just what they are without any hindrance. Unfortunately, this dependently arising universe also allows for interactions and unfoldings that are perceived as less than wonderful because sometimes sentient beings cannot trust in the subtle workings of the True Reality. Instead, they try to cling to what cannot be grasped and create unpleasant results.
In the Odaimoku, “Myōhō” means “Wonderful Dharma.” This Wonderful Dharma is itself the dependently arising nature or emptiness of the universe we are part of. Chanting Odaimoku is recalling the subtle workings of this Wonderful Dharma and entrusting oneself to it. This entrusting acknowledges the second noble truth — it is an affirmation that suffering has no ultimate power over us when we recognize its causes and work to change them.
In a passage from “A Conversation Between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man,” a sacred writing of the Nichiren tradition, we find a very eloquent presentation of the first two noble truths. In this passage, the suffering of the six worlds and the workings of the three poisons that keep us trapped there are described from the point of view of a man who has begun to seek the Buddha Dharma in order to free himself from suffering.
Unenlightened Man: Everyone, from the wisest emperor down to the most vulgar peasant, knows that all who are born must inevitably die, but it is difficult to find even one in a million who truly realizes the significance of this and laments. Observing life’s impermanence, we fear alienation [from the Buddha] and regret our overfamiliarity [with the secular world]. However, we still feel that dying and leaving loved ones behind is a great tragedy, while remaining alive is a blessing. Motivated by the five worldly desires, we ingrates [excuse our negligence of the Buddha Dharma] by claiming that our daily lives are too busy. Meanwhile, [time flies past like] white stallions speeding [past a crack in a wall] and [we are like] sheep led [to the slaughter]. Chained to the hell of vainly scrambling for food and clothes, we ingrates fall into the pit of fame and wealth, and return to our accustomed dwelling places in the three evil realms. Wandering in the six paths of samsāra, who wouldn’t lament if they have any intelligence? Who wouldn’t become sad?
Alas! For old and young alike, uncertainty is the way of this world of suffering. It is the principle of this life that we meet only to part again. I was not caught by surprise, but [I was at a loss] when I saw the state of the people who died early in the beginning of the Shoka era. Some people had to forsake their young children, while others had to leave behind their aged parents who remained alive, and in their prime they were on their way to the Yellow Springs [of the afterlife]. Both the dying and those remaining alive must have been full of sadness.
The king of Ch’u’s heavenly consort left her love behind like a trace of morning cloud. Liu was also [the brief] companion of an immortal, and [upon returning home] was comforted by the seventh generation of his descendants. But how can a person like myself find consolation for this grief? Perhaps the simple mountain rustics might remember some forgotten story [or consoling advice]. As a memento for later generations [I record these thoughts of mine] just as in Naniwa marks are left like brush strokes in the sand after the seaweed is collected.
It is so sad, it is so painful! From the beginningless past we have been drunk on the wine of ignorance and are repeatedly reborn among the six paths and four forms of birth. Sometimes we are choking amidst [the smoke and flames of] the [Hell of] Burning Heat and the [Hell of] Great Burning Heat, another time we are trapped in the ice of the Lotus Flower [Hell] and the Great Lotus Flower [Hell]. Another time we bring upon ourselves the agony and sorrow of the hungry ghosts who suffer hunger and thirst, not even hearing the words “food” and “drink” for five hundred lifetimes. Another time we suffer the agony of animals who are torn apart and consumed, as the small are swallowed up by the large and the short are vanquished by the long. Another time we endure the agony of the fighting demons in their war with Indra. Another time we are born as a human being and experience the eight sufferings: birth, old age, sickness, death, separation from loved ones, meeting those one dislikes, not getting what one desires, and the inherent suffering of the five aggregates. Another time we are born in heaven and experience the five signs of decay.
Like a wheel we roll around in the threefold world, never realizing that we have been parent and child to each other throughout countless lifetimes, or that husbands and wives are continuing relationships from past lives. Our thoughts lead us like wandering sheep, while dark things glare at us with the eyes of wolves. We do not even know the origin of the mother who gave us birth, nor do we, who have received life, know when death will finally claim us.
Alas! We received a human birth, which is hard to receive, and we have met the Tathāgata’s teaching, which is difficult to meet. It is as if we were the one eyed turtle patiently seeking the hole of a floating log to rest in [and have finally found it]. If we miss this chance to cut the bond of life and death and escape the cage of the threefold world we will be very sad, very sad indeed.(Shogu Mondo-shō, Shōwa Teihon pp. 350-1. Listed in the Rokuge.)
In the third noble truth, the Buddha teaches the possibility of liberation from suffering and incessant craving. This is the noble truth of cessation. If suffering is conditional, then it is not necessary and can be dispensed with. The possibility of liberation from the vicious cycle of suffering is the real meaning of the term nirvāna. Nirvāna does not refer to some metaphysical realm of bliss. It actually means “to extinguish.” It refers to the extinguishing of the flames of craving which keep us entangled in a self-oriented viewpoint that inevitably leads to the cycle of birth and death. When this self-oriented viewpoint is transcended, then one realizes that liberation cannot be a private affair; it is, rather, a shared reality in which all sentient beings take part with no need to distinguish self and other. Finally, there is the realization that even the duality between defilements and awakening or between the world of birth and death and the world of nirvāna are themselves false dichotomies transcended in the Buddha’s awakening. This is because one awakens from the limited self-oriented perspective that gives rise to an aversion to the sufferings of birth and death and a selfish craving for the bliss of nirvāna.
“Renge,” the lotus flower, is the symbol of this process of unfolding awakening in the midst of worldly life. The lotus flower derives its nourishment from muddy water and floats above that same water without stain or blemish. In the same way, buddhahood reveals itself in our ordinary lives and transmutes our defilements and ignorance into the purity and clarity of awakening. After all, it is our craving and consequent suffering which bring us to the point where we look for something finer, and it is the phenomenal world itself that is the Pure Land of Tranquil Light once one views it with the eyes of a buddha. In addition, just as the lotus flower blossoms and seeds at the same time, buddhahood itself is both the seed and the fruit of our Buddhist practice. If there were no intrinsic buddha-nature as the ever-present possibility of buddhahood, would anyone try to seek it? Isn’t buddhahood simply awakening to what has always been present? Whereas Myōhō, the Wonderful Dharma, is the basis for properly understanding the cause of anguish, Renge, the lotus flower, is a symbol for this law’s positive implications — the cessation of suffering and the realization of buddhahood. The lotus flower reveals the deepest and richest meaning of the third noble truth; this, in turn, motivates our practice of Odaimoku.
The Eightfold Path
So how does one live the Middle Way in order to put an end to craving? The Buddha once again returns to the eightfold path, which is the fourth noble truth. As already stated, following the eightfold path is to live in accordance with the Middle Way. The eightfold path consists of “right view,” “right intention,” “right speech,” “right action,” “right livelihood,” “right effort,” “right mindfulness,” and “right concentration.” Furthermore, the word usually translated as “right,” could also be translated as “perfect,” “whole,” or “complete.” Each part of this eightfold path, then, is an aspect of one’s life that should be made whole or complete, and not just “right” according to some moralistic or arbitrary religious scheme. Anyone can see that a tradition that enables one to have a whole or complete life is the right one to follow. This is a very pragmatic and universal criteria for judging the validity of a religion or practice, and it avoids dogmatism and unfounded speculation. The specific meaning of each path is as follows:
Right View: Fully understanding life as revealed by the four noble truths.
Right Intention: Thinking clearly without the distortion of greed, anger or ignorance. It also means that one should be sincere and not harbor ulterior motives.
Right Speech: The avoidance of deception, gossip, slander and other forms of verbal abuse or dishonesty. Instead, one speaks only to benefit others and to reveal the truth.
Right Action: The cultivation of ethical conduct. One acts to benefit others and refrains from killing, stealing, sexual deception or exploitation, and other forms of harmful activity.
Right Livelihood: One should be able to make a living without harming or exploiting others. Right livelihood precludes such activities as dealing in armaments, drug dealing, fraud, insider trading, and any other means of earning money which involves the exploitation or harming of others.
Right Effort: The cultivation of good habits on the one hand, and the curbing of bad habits on the other.
Right Mindfulness: The full awareness of all of forms, feelings, mental states, and phenomena in all places and at all times.
Right Concentration: The practice of concentration techniques in order to acquire tranquility, insight into the true nature of life, and liberation from false views.
The four noble truths and the noble eightfold path are mutually reinforcing. The possibility of liberation has been spelled out in the four noble truths and the actual living of that truth is the noble eightfold path. Right view accords with the four noble truths. A life committed to these insights is a way of life based upon a value system that is very different from the unexamined presuppositions of ordinary life. The other seven parts of the noble eightfold path are, in a sense, the corollaries of right view. Once one has accepted the four noble truths, it no longer makes sense to live in a way that violates the noble eightfold path. All the sūtras and commentaries, in fact, are expositions on the noble eightfold path, because they all aim to induce right view and to show how to live and practice in accordance with the right view of the four noble truths.
The noble eightfold path is also taught in terms of the “threefold training,” consisting of morality, concentration, and wisdom. Morality refers to the ethical demands of right speech, right action, and right livelihood. Specifically, there are five precepts which are at the heart of Buddhist morality. The “five precepts” are as follows: not to kill, not to steal, not to misuse sexuality, not to speak falsely, and not to use intoxicants that cloud the mind. Concentration refers to the cultivation of the mind, covering right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Wisdom refers to the acquisition of right view and right intention. The Buddha taught that one is able to shake loose the bonds of craving and ignorance and attain the liberation of nirvāna when morality, concentration, and wisdom are cultivated together.
The practice of the eightfold path can be very demanding. After all, it is essentially a description of awakened behavior. Since very few of us are awakened, it is very difficult to live up to. One could even say that to become awakened, you have to be awake. The Lotus Sūtra, however, assures all people that it is possible not only to fulfill the eightfold path but also to realize buddhahood. We must maintain our faith in the Buddha’s teaching of the One Vehicle that leads all beings to buddhahood. Instead of trying to meticulously scrutinize our every thought, word, and deed to see if it measures up to the criteria of the eightfold path, we should simply put aside our self-doubts and recriminations and chant Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō with confidence and joy. Through Odaimoku, we connect with the true spirit of the eightfold path, the unfolding of the Buddha’s life in our own lives. In the growing virtue, peace, and insight that we allow to emerge from within our lives as we chant, we gradually and naturally fulfill and abide by the eightfold path. “Kyō,” or sūtra, therefore represents not only the Lotus Sūtra but all of the sūtras of the Buddha, whose right views and right practices are contained in Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. When we chant, we should realize that Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō is the seed and the fruit of all the other teachings. It expresses the true spirit from which all the other teachings and practices emerge and towards which they are leading.
In a sacred writing of the Nichiren tradition entitled “The Izu Exile,” the solution to the problem of suffering and the way to that solution is revealed from the perspective of the Buddha’s highest teaching, the Lotus Sūtra. This writing teaches that the Buddha’s enlightenment is within our reach as practitioners of the Lotus Sūtra.
The following excerpts illustrate this teaching:
We sentient beings have existed in the ocean of birth and death since the beginningless past until now. After becoming a practitioner of the Lotus Sūtra, you can attain the beginningless body and mind, original nature, wondrous state, wondrous wisdom, and indestructible diamond-like body of the Buddha. How can this be different than becoming the Buddha? Since the remote past of more than 500 dust particle kalpas, the lord and teacher Śākyamuni Buddha, the only one who can save all living beings, is none other than we sentient beings. The teaching of the “three thousand worlds in a single thought-moment” in the Lotus Sūtra is the eternal transmission of this Dharma. At this moment, we embody the Lotus Sūtra and the World Honored One, but ordinary people do not know this. The “Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata” chapter says, “Although I always live here with the people of inverted views, I disappear from their eyes.” Delusion and enlightenment are as different as the four views of the sala trees. Therefore, I humbly state that the Buddha of the three thousand worlds in a single thought-moment is the attainment of buddhahood in the Dharma-realm.
The ogre who confronted the Himalayan Boy was Śakra Devānām Indra’s transformation. The dove which sought sanctuary with King Śibi was the deity Viśvakarman. King Śrutasoma who entered the castle of King Kalmāshapāda was the lord and teacher Śākyamuni Buddha. Although you can not recognize these transformations with the naked eye, with the buddha-eye you can see them. [Although it is hard to believe,] these things are expounded in the sūtras, just as in the vast sky and the deep sea there are tracks for the birds and fish [though we can not see them]. The wooden statue is itself gold, the gold is itself wood. Aniruddha’s gold became a rabbit and then a corpse. Sand became gold in Mahānāma‘s palm. These things are beyond imagining or discussion. The ordinary person is a buddha, the Buddha is an ordinary person. The reality of the three thousand worlds in a single thought-moment is our own attainment of buddhahood. (Funamori Yasaburo-moto Gosho, Shōwa Teihon p. 230-231. Listed in the Rokuge.)
The Three Treasures
Once the Buddha finished teaching the four noble truths to his five former companions in asceticism, the eldest ascetic arose and declared that the Buddha had indeed discovered the Dharma (Truth or Law). The other ascetics also affirmed that the Buddha had discovered and taught the Truth which leads to freedom. They then became the first bhikshus (monks) of the Sangha (the Buddhist community) by taking refuge in the three treasures, consisting of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. At that moment, the Buddha Dharma was no longer just a private insight, but a living tradition that would enable all people to realize their own capacity for buddhahood.
The whole idea of taking refuge is a recognition that our life as it is ordinarily lived is full of anxiety, dissatisfaction, and even outright suffering. We seek to find out if life holds any answers to our search for happiness and ease. We may come to wonder if life is meaningful at all. It may be tempting to give up and sink into the conviction that life is just an accident of thoughtless waves and particles and heartless interactions in the void. It is at this point that we may begin a sincere inquiry into the meaning of things. Who am I? Why am I here? What is this all about anyway? Some of us, if we are fortunate, may stumble upon the three treasures: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
In the Buddha, we discover that it is possible for people to awaken to the Truth about life. The life of Śākyamuni Buddha shows that it is possible to resolve those perennial doubts in a way that does not require blind faith or thoughtless submission to the rites, ceremonies, dogmas, and rules of an institution that may simply be another part of the problem. Śākyamuni Buddha provided us with a primordial archetype of human wisdom and compassion. When we take refuge in him, we take refuge in the possibility of our own awakening. For those of us who put faith in the practice of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, we are reminded that the Eternal Śākyamuni Buddha is not an otherworldly reality, abstract ideal, or long dead teacher; he is, rather, the spirit of awakening that is constantly leading us to buddhahood.
In the Dharma, we find a teaching that enables us to cut through the illusions and karmic hindrances that prevent us from awakening. The Dharma is a placeless and timeless intuition of the True Reality of All Existence. These insights are beyond words and phrases, but have no reality apart from them. Through the words and phrases of the sūtras, we engage that True Reality in a way that causes us to reflect on the true nature of our lives. It allows us to see the timeless, placeless teaching that makes us rejoice in the Dharma all the more. Those of us who chant Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō take delight in all the sūtras as well as in the unfathomable True Dharma. We do so because we are able to rejoice in the true intent of all the sūtras and directly engage the ineffable Dharma through Odaimoku.
In the Sangha, we join a community that supports and encourages a life that is devoted to the Way. The local Sangha also provides us with a base community that enables us to reach out to the larger Sangha of all beings. Without the Sangha, we we are like a plant lacking firm roots that quickly dies. We are just as vulnerable without a supportive community of fellow practitioners. In a more positive light, the way of the truly compassionate person is the way of engagement with one’s fellow beings. Certainly, there are no perfect Sanghas, and certainly there are times for solitude and reflection, but always there is the need to maintain a connection with others in practice and in caring.
The Buddhist Sangha is not just the monks and nuns, though many have mistakenly come to that conclusion. According to Śākyamuni Buddha, the Sangha consists of those who have sincerely begun to practice the Buddha Dharma, whether monastic or lay. The monastic community is the institutional framework that maintains the tradition and provides an environment and community where the Buddha Dharma can be practiced without the distractions of family and work. The lay community upholds the Buddha Dharma by applying it to their daily lives and by supporting the monastic community. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, the Sangha consists of those who are striving for buddhahood themselves in order to benefit all beings. These are the bodhisattvas and they can be either monastics or lay people.
In the Lotus Sūtra, innumerable bodhisattvas emerge from beneath the earth and declare that they are the original disciples of Śākyamuni Buddha from the beginningless past. These bodhisattvas from underground are really the people who practice the Lotus Sūtra today. We are the Buddha’s primordial disciples because our connection with buddhahood has no beginning or end. Our transformation of daily life, rooted in the Wonderful Dharma, is the emergence from beneath the earth. Our membership in the ranks of the bodhisattvas from underground is assured whenever we affirm the teaching and practice of the Lotus Sūtra by chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. The Odaimoku is like a password that provides us entrance into the ultimate Sangha of the original disciples of the Eternal Śākyamuni Buddha.
Nichiren often stressed the importance of gratitude to all those who have made life possible for us – parents, other beings, and the ruler of the country (who represented the harmony of the natural world as well as the rule of law and order in Nichiren’s day). Above all, Nichiren was grateful to the Three Treasures. They alone made it possible to pay back the debt owed to all other beings for the gift of life by allowing one to work for their awakening. Nichiren felt that gratitude to these four groups was so important that he often cited them in his letters and treatises.
In a sacred writing of the Nichiren tradition called “The Four Debts of Gratitude,” the following is written about the importance of the three treasures:
The fourth is the grace of the Three Treasures. During innumerable kalpas, Śākyamuni Tathāgata practiced the bodhisattva way and collected all the necessary merit and virtue. Altogether, the merit he obtained had 64 parts, of which he only used one part for himself. He left the other 63 parts for this world when the age of the five defilements and confusion would arrive. The Buddha made the following vow: “There will be a time when the unlawful prosper and the people who abuse the Dharma will fill the country. At that time, the glory and power of the innumerable benevolent guardian deities will diminish because they lack the taste of Dharma. At that time, the sun and moon will lose their light, heavenly beings and dragons will no longer provide rain, and the gods of the earth will decrease the earth’s fertility. At that time, all roots, stalks, branches, leaves, flowers, fruits, grass and trees will lose their medicinal properties as well as the seven flavors. At that time, even those who are kings by virtue of the ten courses of wholesome conduct will increase in greed, anger and ignorance. People will show ingratitude to their parents, and the six relations will have hostility for one another. Disciples lacking wisdom or precepts will do nothing but shave their heads and will be abandoned by the protective gods. At that time, I will become the life support of those monks and the Sangha which would otherwise have no subsistence [by leaving the 63 parts of my merit for them].”
In addition, he used only two out of three portions of the merit of the stage of realization for himself. He was supposed to stay in this world until the age of 120, but died at the age of 80, leaving the other 40 years of his life to us.
Even if we used all the water of the four great oceans to wet our ink stones, burned all the grass and trees to cinders to make ink, used the fur of every animal to make writing brushes, and used all the land of the worlds of the ten directions as paper in order to express our gratitude in writing, we still could not repay the Buddha’s grace.
When I humbly talk about the grace of the Dharma, it means the Dharma itself is each Buddha’s master. The nobility of each buddha depends on the Dharma. If so, the person who wants to repay the grace of the Buddha should repay the grace of the Dharma.
In regard to the grace of the Sangha, the Buddha treasure and the Dharma treasure always abide in the Sangha. For instance, if there is no firewood there can be no fire; if there is no land, the grass and trees cannot grow. Although we now have the Buddha and the Dharma, without the Sangha to learn about and teach them, they would not have been taught during the past 2000 years of the true age of the Dharma and the semblance age of the Dharma and on into the latter age of the Dharma. That’s why the Great Assembly Sūtra states, “Suppose, after the fifth five hundred year period, you should harass a monk with no wisdom and no precepts — you should know that this the same as extinguishing the great lantern of the Buddha and the Dharma.” Therefore, it is difficult to repay the grace of the Sangha.
Thus we should repay the Three Treasures. (Shion-shō, Shōwa Teihon pp.238-9. Listed in the Rokunai.)
This passage clearly show the depth of faith and gratitude that Nichiren felt for the Three Treasures.
The Buddha is the ever present spirit of awakening at work in our lives, the Dharma is the reflection of our own capacity to realize and practice the Truth, and the Sangha is the reflection of our own ability to share the Dharma and to create a peaceful and loving community. By taking refuge in the Three Treasures we are inspired to fulfill the threefold training of morality, concentration, and wisdom. In doing so, are able to realize the four noble truths for ourselves. Nichiren taught the chanting of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō to center our minds and hearts upon the Wonderful Dharma. The Odaimoku is the Wonderful Dharma, and as such is the true nature of the four noble truths, the true spirit of the eightfold path, and the true source of the Three Treasures.