F you wish to free yourself from thesufferings of birth and death you

have endured since time without be-ginning and to attain without fail un-surpassed enlightenment in this lifetime,you must perceive the mystic truth thatis originally inherent in all living beings.This truth is Myoho-renge-kyo. Chant-ing Myoho-renge-kyo will thereforeenable you to grasp the mystic truthinnate in all life.

The Lotus Sutra is the king of sutras,true and correct in both word andprinciple. Its words are the ultimatereality, and this reality is the MysticLaw (myoho). It is called the MysticLaw because it reveals the principle ofthe mutually inclusive relationship ofa single moment of life and all phe-nomena. That is why this sutra is thewisdom of all Buddhas.

Life at each moment encompassesthe body and mind and the self andenvironment of all sentient beings inthe Ten Worlds as well as all insentientbeings in the three thousand realms,including plants, sky, earth, and eventhe minutest particles of dust. Life ateach moment permeates the entirerealm of phenomena and is revealed inall phenomena. To be awakened to thisprinciple is itself the mutually inclusiverelationship of life at each momentand all phenomena. Nevertheless, eventhough you chant and believe in

Myoho-renge-kyo, if you think theLaw is outside yourself, you are em-bracing not the Mystic Law but aninferior teaching. “Inferior teaching”means those other than this [Lotus]sutra, which are all expedient and pro-visional. No expedient or provisionalteaching leads directly to enlighten-ment, and without the direct path toenlightenment you cannot attain Bud-dhahood, even if you practice lifetimeafter lifetime for countless kalpas. At-taining Buddhahood in this lifetime isthen impossible. Therefore, when youchant myoho and recite renge,1 you mustsummon up deep faith that Myoho-renge-kyo is your life itself.

You must never think that any ofthe eighty thousand sacred teachings ofShakyamuni Buddha’s lifetime or anyof the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of theten directions and three existences areoutside yourself. Your practice of theBuddhist teachings will not relieve youof the sufferings of birth and death inthe least unless you perceive the truenature of your life. If you seek enlight-enment outside yourself, then yourperforming even ten thousand practicesand ten thousand good deeds will be invain. It is like the case of a poor manwho spends night and day counting hisneighbor’s wealth but gains not evenhalf a coin. That is why the T’ien-t’aischool’s commentary states, “Unless

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On Attaining Buddhahoodin This Lifetime

I

one perceives the nature of one’s life,one cannot eradicate one’s grave of-fenses.”2 This passage implies that, unlessone perceives the nature of one’s life,one’s practice will become an endless,painful austerity. Therefore, such stu-dents of Buddhism are condemned asnon-Buddhist. Great Concentration andInsight states that, although they studyBuddhism, their views are no differentfrom those of non-Buddhists.

Whether you chant the Buddha’sname,3 recite the sutra, or merely offerflowers and incense, all your virtuousacts will implant benefits and roots ofgoodness in your life. With this con-viction you should strive in faith. TheVimalakirti Sutra states that, when oneseeks the Buddhas’ emancipation in theminds of ordinary beings, one findsthat ordinary beings are the entities ofenlightenment, and that the sufferingsof birth and death are nirvana. It alsostates that, if the minds of living beingsare impure, their land is also impure,but if their minds are pure, so is theirland. There are not two lands, pure orimpure in themselves. The differencelies solely in the good or evil of ourminds.

It is the same with a Buddha and anordinary being. When deluded, one iscalled an ordinary being, but whenenlightened, one is called a Buddha.This is similar to a tarnished mirrorthat will shine like a jewel when pol-ished. A mind now clouded by theillusions of the innate darkness of life islike a tarnished mirror, but when pol-ished, it is sure to become like a clearmirror, reflecting the essential nature ofphenomena and the true aspect of re-ality. Arouse deep faith, and diligentlypolish your mirror day and night. Howshould you polish it? Only by chantingNam-myoho-renge-kyo.

What then does myo signify? It is

simply the mysterious nature of our lifefrom moment to moment, which themind cannot comprehend or wordsexpress. When we look into our ownmind at any moment, we perceive nei-ther color nor form to verify that itexists. Yet we still cannot say it doesnot exist, for many differing thoughtscontinually occur. The mind cannotbe considered either to exist or notto exist. Life is indeed an elusive re-ality that transcends both the wordsand concepts of existence and nonexis-tence. It is neither existence nor non-existence, yet exhibits the qualities ofboth. It is the mystic entity of theMiddle Way that is the ultimate reality.Myo is the name given to the mysticnature of life, and ho, to its manifesta-tions. Renge, which means lotus flower,is used to symbolize the wonder of thisLaw. If we understand that our lifeat this moment is myo, then we willalso understand that our life at othermoments is the Mystic Law.4 Thisrealization is the mystic kyo, or sutra.The Lotus Sutra is the king of sutras,the direct path to enlightenment, forit explains that the entity of our life,which manifests either good or evil ateach moment, is in fact the entity ofthe Mystic Law.

If you chant Myoho-renge-kyo withdeep faith in this principle, you arecertain to attain Buddhahood in thislifetime. That is why the sutra states,“After I have passed into extinction,[one] should accept and uphold thissutra. Such a person assuredly andwithout doubt will attain the Buddhaway.”5 Never doubt in the slightest.

Respectfully.

Maintain your faith and attain Bud-dhahood in this lifetime. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Nichiren

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ON ATTAINING BUDDHAHOOD IN THIS LIFETIME

Background

This letter was written to Toki Jonin inthe seventh year of Kencho (), twoyears after Nichiren Daishonin estab-lished his teaching of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. At the time of this letter,the Daishonin was thirty-four years oldand was living in Kamakura, the seat ofthe military government. Toki was astaunch follower of the Daishonin wholived in Wakamiya in Shimosa Prov-ince. He received some thirty letters,including Letter from Sado and one ofthe major treatises, The Object of Devo-tion for Observing the Mind. A retainer ofLord Chiba, the constable of Shimosa,Toki had become a follower of theDaishonin around .

Of all his writings from the mid-s, On Attaining Buddhahood in ThisLifetime focuses most clearly on thetenets of the Daishonin’s Buddhism;

many of the other works of this periodare aimed chiefly at refuting the erro-neous doctrines of other schools anddiscussing theoretical questions. Thisshort essay not only reflects the theo-ries T’ien-t’ai formulated based onthe Lotus Sutra, but also reveals theconcrete practice for attaining Buddha-hood—namely, chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—that is missing in T’ien-t’ai’s theoretical framework.

Myoho-renge-kyo is the title of theLotus Sutra, but to the Daishonin itis much more; it is the essence of thesutra, the revelation of the supremeLaw itself. Apparent in this work areboth the depth of his thought andhis conviction that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the only teaching that can leadpeople to Buddhahood in this lifetime.

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ON ATTAINING BUDDHAHOOD IN THIS LIFETIME

Notes1. “Chant myoho and recite renge” means

to chant the daimoku of the Mystic Law, orNam-myoho-renge-kyo.

2. The Annotations on “Great Concentra-tion and Insight.”

3. As used here, “the Buddha’s name”

denotes Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.4. This sentence can also be interpreted

to read, “If one understands that one’s lifeis myo, then one also understands that oth-ers’ lives are all entities of the Mystic Law.”

5. Lotus Sutra, chap. .