Part One [snack one]

There are three categories of people that all men and women should respect. They are the sovereign, the teacher, and the parent. There are three types of doctrines that are to be studied. They are Confucianism, Brahmanism, and Buddhism.

Confucianism describes the Three Sovereigns¹, the Five Emperors² and the Three Kings³, whom it calls the Honorable Ones of Heaven. These men are depicted as the heads of the government officials and the bridges for the populace. In the age before the Three Sovereigns, people were no better than birds and beasts in that they did not even know who their own fathers were. But from the time of the Five Emperors on, they learned to know what both their father and mother were to themselves, treating them according to the dictates of filial piety. Thus Chung-hua served his father with reverence, though the latter was stubborn and hardheaded. Also, the governor of P’ei, after he became the emperor, continued to pay great respect to his father, the Venerable Sire. King Wu⁴ of the Chou dynasty made a wooden image of his father, the Earl of the West, and Ting Lan⁵ fashioned a statue of his mother. All of these men are models of filial piety.

The high minister Pi Kan⁶, seeing that the Yin dynasty was on the path to ruin, strongly admonished the ruler, though it cost him his head. Hung Yen⁷, finding that his lord, Duke Yi, had been killed, cut open his own stomach and inserted the duke’s liver in it before he died. These men may serve as models of loyalty.

Yin Shou was the teacher of Emperor Yao, Wu Ch’eng was the teacher of Emperor Shun, T’ai-kung Wang⁸ was the teacher of King Wen, and Lao Tzu was the teacher of Confucius⁹. These teachers are known as the four sages. Even the Honorable Ones of Heaven bow their heads to them in respect, and all people press their palms together in reverence. Sages such as these have left behind writings that run to over three thousand volumes in such works as the Three Records, the Five Canons and the Three Histories¹⁰. But all these writings in the end do not advance beyond the three mysteries. The first of the three mysteries is Being¹¹. This is the principle taught by the Duke of Chou and others. The second mystery is Non-Being¹² which was expounded by Lao Tzu. The third is Both Being and Non-Being¹³, which is the mystery set forth by Chuang Tzu. Mystery denotes darkness. Some say that, if we ask what existed before our ancestors were born, we will find that life was born out of the primal force, while others declare that eminence and ignobility, joy and sorrow, right and wrong, gain and loss occur simply as part of the natural order.

These are theories that are cleverly argued, but which fail to take cognizance of either the past or the future. Mystery, as we have seen, means darkness or obscurity, and it is for this reason that it is called mystery. It is a theory that deals with matters only in terms of the present. Speaking in terms of the present, the Confucians declare that one should abide by the principles of benevolence and righteousness¹⁴ and thereby insure safety to oneself and peace and order to the state. If one departs from these principles, they say, then one’s family will be doomed and one’s house overthrown. But although the wise and worthy men who preach this doctrine are acclaimed as sages, they know nothing more about the past than an ordinary person unable to see his own back, and they understand as little about the future as a blind man who cannot see what lies in front of him.

If, in terms of the present, one brings order to one’s family, carries out the demands of filial piety, and faithfully practices the five constant virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and good faith, then one’s associates will respect one and one’s name will become known throughout the country. If there is a wise ruler on the throne, he will invite such a person to become his minister or his teacher, or may even cede his position to him. Heaven too will come to protect and watch over such a person. Such were the so-called Five Elders¹⁵ who gathered about and assisted King Wu of the Chou dynasty, or the twenty-eight generals of Emperor Kuang-wu of the Later Han, who were likened to the twenty-eight constellations of the sky¹⁶. But since such a person knows nothing about the past or the future, he cannot assist his parents, his sovereign or his teacher in making provisions for their future lives, and he is therefore unable to repay the debt he owes them. Such a person is not a true worthy man or sage.

The Great Teacher Miao-lo says: "The propagation of Buddhism truly depends on this. First the teachings on rites and music were expounded, and later the true way was introduced.²⁰" T’ien-t’ai states: "In the Konkomyo Sutra it is recorded that ‘All the good teachings that exist in the world derive from this sutra. To have a profound knowledge of this world is itself Buddhism.²¹’" In the Maka shikan we read: "I [the Buddha] have dispatched the Three Sages²² to educate the land of China." In the Guketsu, we read: "The Shojohogyo Sutra states that Bodhisattva Gakko appeared in that land under the name Yen Hui, Bodhisattva Kojo appeared there as Confucius, and Bodhisattva Kashyapa appeared as Lao Tzu. Since the sutra is speaking from the point of view of India, it refers to China as ‘that land.’ "

Secondly, we come to the non-Buddhist teachings of India. In Brahmanism we find the two deities Shiva, who has three eyes and eight arms, and Vishnu. They are hailed as the loving father and compassionate mother of all living beings and are also called the Honorable One of Heaven and sovereign. In addition, there are three men, Kapila, Uluka and Rishabha²³, who are known as the three ascetics. These ascetics lived somewhere around eight hundred years before the time of the Buddha. The teachings expounded by the three ascetics are known as the four Vedas, and number sixty thousand.

Later, in the time of the Buddha, there were the six non-Buddhist teachers, who studied and transmitted these non-Buddhist scriptures and acted as tutors to the kings of the five regions of India.²⁴ Their teachings split into ninety-five or ninety-six different lines, forming school after school. The banners of their pride were lifted up higher than the heaven where there is neither thought nor no thought, and their dogmatic rigidity was harder than metal or stone. But in their skill and depth of understanding, they surpassed anything known in Confucianism. They were able to look into the past and perceive two, three, or even seven existences, a period of eighty thousand kalpas, and they could likewise know what would happen eighty thousand kalpas in the future. As the fundamental principle of their doctrine, some of these schools taught that causes produce effects, others taught that causes do not produce effects, while still others taught that causes both do and do not produce effects. Such were the fundamental principles of these non-Buddhist schools.

The devout followers of the non-Buddhist teachings observe the five precepts²⁵ and the ten good precepts²⁶, practice the kind of meditation that is still accompanied by outflows and, ascending to the worlds of form and formlessness²⁷, believe they have attained nirvana when they reach the highest level of heavens. But although they make their way upward bit by bit like an inchworm, they fall back from the heaven where there is neither thought nor no thought, and descend instead into the three evil paths. Not a single one succeeds in remaining on the level of heavens, though they believe that once a person has attained that level, he will never descend from it. Each approves and practices the doctrines taught by his teacher and stoutly abides by them. Thus some of them bathe three times a day in the Ganges even on cold winter days, while others pull out the hairs on their head, fling themselves against rocks, expose themselves to fire, burn their bodies, or go about stark naked. Again there are those who believe they can gain good fortune by sacrificing many horses, or who burn grasses and trees, or make obeisance to every tree they encounter.

Erroneous teachings such as these are too numerous to be counted. Their adherents pay as much respect and honor to the teachers who propound them as the various deities pay to the god Taishaku or the court ministers pay to the ruler of the empire. But not a single person who adheres to these ninety-five types of higher or lower non-Buddhist teachings ever escapes from the cycle of birth and death. Those who follow teachers of the better sort will, after two or three rebirths, fall into the evil paths, while those who follow evil teachers will fall into the evil paths in their very next rebirth.

And yet the final conclusion of these non-Buddhist teachings constitutes an important means of entry into Buddhism. Some of them state, "A thousand years from now, the Buddha will appear in the world,"²⁸ while others state, "A hundred years from now, the Buddha will appear in the world."²⁹ The Nirvana Sutra remarks: "All scriptures or teachings, from whatever source, are ultimately the revelation of Buddhist truth. They are not non-Buddhist teachings." And in the Lotus Sutra it is written, "Before the multitude they seem possessed of the three poisons or manifest the signs of heretical views. My disciples in this manner use expedient means to save living beings."

Thirdly, we come to Buddhism. One should know that the World-Honored One of Great Enlightenment is a great leader for all living beings, a great eye for them, a great bridge, a great helmsman, a great field of good fortune. The four sages and three ascetics of the Confucian and Brahmanical scriptures and teachings are referred to as sages, but in fact they are no more than ordinary people who have not yet been able to eradicate the three categories of illusion. They are referred to as wise men, but in fact they are no more than infants who cannot understand the principles of cause and effect. With their teachings for a ship, could one ever cross over the sea of the sufferings of birth and death? With their teachings for a bridge, could one ever escape from the maze of the six paths? But the Buddha, our great teacher, has advanced beyond even transmigration with change and advance³⁰, let alone transmigration with differences and limitations³¹. He has wiped out even the very root of fundamental darkness,³² let alone the illusions of thought and desire that are as minor as branches and leaves.

This Buddha, from the time of his enlightenment at the age of thirty until his passing at the age of eighty, expounded his sacred teachings for a period of fifty years. Each word, each phrase he spoke is true; not a sentence, not a verse was false. The words of the sages and worthy men preserved in the scriptures and teachings of Confucianism and Brahmanism, as we have noted, are free of error, and the words match the spirit in which they were spoken. But how much more true is this in the case of the Buddha, no speaker of false words from countless kalpas in the past! In comparison to the non-Buddhist scriptures and teachings, the doctrines that he expounded in a period of fifty or so years represent the great vehicle, the true words of the great man. Everything that he preached, from the dawn of his enlightenment until the evening that he entered into nirvana, is none other than the truth.

However, when we examine the eighty thousand teachings of Buddhism³³ expounded during a period of fifty or more years and recorded in scriptures, we find that they fall into various categories such as Hinayana and Mahayana, provisional and true sutras, exoteric and esoteric teachings, detailed and rough discourses, true words and false words, correct and incorrect views. But among these, the Lotus Sutra alone represents the correct teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, the truthful words of the Buddhas of the three existences and the ten directions. The World-Honored One of Great Enlightenment designated a specific period of the preceding forty years and more, and defined the various sutras preached during that period, numerous as the sands of the Ganges, as the sutras in which he had "not yet revealed the truth."³⁴ He designated the Lotus Sutra preached during the eight years as the sutra in which he "now must reveal the truth."³⁵ Thus Taho Buddha came forth from the earth to testify that "All that you have expounded [in the Lotus Sutra] is the truth,"³⁶ and the Buddhas that are emanations of Shakyamuni gathered together and extended their long tongues up to the Brahma heaven in testimony.³⁷ These words are perfectly clear, perfectly understandable, brighter than the sun on a clear day or like the full moon at midnight. Look up to them and believe them, and when you turn away, cherish them in your heart!

The Lotus Sutra contains two important teachings.³⁸ The Kusha, Jojitsu, Ritsu, Hosso and Sanron sects have never heard even so much as the name of these teachings. The Kegon and Shingon sects, on the other hand, have surreptitiously stolen these doctrines and made them the heart of their own teachings. The doctrine of ichinen sanzen,³⁹ or three thousand realms in a single moment of life, is found in only one place, hidden in the depths of the Juryo chapter of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra. Nagarjuna and Vasubandhu were aware of it but did not bring it forth into the light. T’ien-t’ai Chih-che alone embraced it and kept it ever in mind.

The doctrine of the three thousand realms in a single moment of life begins with the concept of the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds. But the Hosso and Sanron sects speak only of eight worlds⁴⁰ and know nothing of the entirety of the Ten Worlds, much less of the concept of their mutual possession. The Kusha, Jojitsu and Ritsu sects derive their teachings from the Agon sutras. They are aware only of the six worlds and know nothing of the other four worlds. They declare that in all the ten directions there is only one Buddha, and do not even preach that there is any other Buddha in any of the ten directions. Of the principle that "all sentient beings alike possess the Buddha nature,"⁴¹ they of course say nothing at all. They refuse to acknowledge that even a single person possesses the Buddha nature. In spite of this, one will sometimes hear members of the Ritsu and Jojitsu sects declaring that there are Buddhas in the ten directions or that all living beings possess the Buddha nature. This is because the teachers of these sects who appeared after the passing away of the Buddha had stolen these Mahayana doctrines and incorporated them into the teachings of their own sects.

To illustrate, in the period before the appearance of Buddhism, the proponents of the non-Buddhist teachings in India were not so bound up in their own views. But after the appearance of the Buddha, when they had listened to and observed the Buddhist teachings, they became aware of the shortcomings of their own doctrines. They then conceived the clever idea of appropriating Buddhist teachings and incorporating them into their own doctrines, and as a result they fell into even deeper error than before. These are examples of the type of heretical teachings known as "appropriating Buddhism" or "misunderstanding Buddhism.[fubukkya and gakubuppaja]"⁴²

The same thing occurred in the case of non-Buddhist scriptures in China. Before Buddhism was brought to China, Confucianism and Taoism were rather naive and childish affairs. But in the Later Han, Buddhism was introduced to China and challenged the native doctrines. In time, as Buddhism became more popular, there were certain Buddhist monks who, because they had broken the precepts, were forced to return to secular life, or who elected to join forces with the native creeds. Through such men, Buddhist doctrines were stolen and incorporated by the Confucian and Taoist teachings.

In volume five of the Maka shikan we read: "These days there are many devilish monks who break the precepts and return to lay life. Fearing that they will be punished for their action, they then go over to the side of the Taoists. Hoping to gain fame and profit, they speak extravagantly of the merits of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, usurping Buddhist concepts and reading them into their erroneous scriptures. They twist what is lofty and force it into a mean context, they destroy what is exalted and drag it down among the base, striving to put the two on an equal level."

Miao-lo, in his Guketsu comments on this passage as follows: "Though they are monks, they destroy the teachings of Buddhism. Some break the precepts and return to lay life, as Wei Yuan-sung⁴³ did. Then, as laymen, they work to destroy the teachings of Buddhism. Men of this kind steal and usurp the correct teachings of Buddhism and use them to supplement and bolster the heretical writings. The passage on ‘twisting what is lofty...’ means that, adopting the outlook of the Taoists, they try to place Buddhism and Taoism on the same level, to make equals of the correct and the heretical, though reason tells us that this could never be. Having once been followers of Buddhist teachings, they steal what is correct and use it to bolster what is heretical. They twist the lofty eighty thousand teachings of the twelve divisions⁴⁴ of the Buddhist canon and force them into the mean context of Lao Tzu’s two chapters and five thousand words, using them to interpret the base and heretical teachings of that text. This is what is meant by ‘destroying what is exalted and dragging it down among the base.’ " These comments should be carefully noted, for they explain the meaning of the foregoing description of events.

The same sort of thing happened within Buddhism itself. Buddhism was introduced to China during the Yung-p’ing era (AD. 58-75) of the Later Han dynasty, and, in time, established its supremacy over Confucian and Taoist teachings. But differences of opinion developed within Buddhism, resulting in the three schools of the south and seven schools of the north, which sprang up here and there like so many orchids or chrysanthemums. In the time of the Ch’en and Sui dynasties, however, the Great Teacher Chih-che overcame these various schools and returned Buddhism once more to its primary objective of saving all living beings.

Later, the teachings of the Hosso and Shingon schools were introduced from India, and the Kegon school also made its appearance. Among these schools, the Hosso school set itself up as an arch opponent of the T’ien-t’ai school, because their teachings are contradictory to each other like fire and water. However, when the Tripitaka Master Hsuan-tsang and the Great Teacher Tz’u-en⁴⁵ closely examined the works of T’ien-t’ai, they came to realize that the views of their own school were in error. Although they did not openly repudiate their own school, it appears that in their hearts they switched their allegiance to the T’ien-t’ai teachings.

From the beginning the Kegon and Shingon schools were both provisional schools based upon provisional sutras. But the Tripitaka masters Shan-wu-wei and Chinkang-chih [who introduced the esoteric Shingon teachings to China] usurped the T’ien-t’ai doctrine of the three thousand realms in a single moment of life and made it the core of the teachings of their school, adding the practice of mudras and mantras⁴⁶ and convincing themselves that their teachings surpassed T’ien-t’ai’s. As a result, students of Buddhism, unaware of the real facts, came to believe that the doctrine of the three thousand realms in a single moment of life was to be found in the Dainichi Sutra that had been brought from India. Similarly, in the time of the Kegon patriarch Ch’eng-kuan, the T’ien-t’ai doctrine of the three thousand realms in a single moment of life was surreptitiously incorporated and used to interpret the passage in the Kegon Sutra that reads, "The mind is like a skilled painter." People were unaware that this was what had happened.

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Gosho background information