Discussion of the “Expedient Means” Chapter (Chapter 2).
Ikeda: Our world is in chaos. Both society and the realm of ideas are in disarray. Sensible people are now thinking seriously about where the world is headed. Many feel a strong sense of crisis that, if we continue as we are, humanity and society will eventually collapse like a house without pillars. They are searching for a clear guideline as to how human beings should live. Many are starting to think earnestly about religion — not as something far removed from daily concerns but as something very close to home. They question what attitude to take toward religion, how to regard and approach it. In this context, exploring religion in the twenty-first century through this Lotus Sutra discussion has great significance.
Saito: We will at last begin discussing “Expedient Means.” We are all familiar with this chapter, of course, because we recite a portion from it during recitation of the sutra in the morning and evening.
Of the twenty-eight Lotus Sutra chapters, “Expedient Means” is the third longest after the “Simile and Parable” and “Parable of the Phantom City” chapters. The portion we recite during the recitation of the sutra — namely, from the chapter opening to the enunciation of the ten factors of life, which represent the true aspect of all phenomena — is only one-twentieth of the whole. “Expedient Means” chapter. This, explains the twenty-sixth high priest, Nichikan, is because it includes the chapter’s most important teaching, and there is no need to recite the remaining portion.
Ikeda: Yes. Doctrinally speaking, “Expedient Means” and “Life Span” are the two pivotal Lotus Sutra chapters. Understanding “Expedient Means” in particular is indispensable to grasping the significance of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
OVERVIEW OF “EXPEDIENT MEANS”
Suda: In the “Introduction” chapter, Shakyamuni enters a deep meditation —”the samadhi of the origin of immeasurable meanings” (LSOC, 37). In “Expedient Means,” he arises from his meditation, or samadhi, and suddenly turns to Shariputra and says: “The wisdom of the Buddhas is infinitely profound and immeasurable. The door to this wisdom is difficult to understand and difficult to enter” (LSOC, 56). He then begins to describe the wondrousness of this Buddha wisdom.
Ikeda: These are the first words Shakyamuni actually speaks in the Lotus Sutra. This first utterance has a special significance. It is a dramatic expression of the fact that the Lotus Sutra teaches the Buddha’s wisdom just as it is, according to the Buddha’s own mind.
The profound and immeasurable Buddha wisdom is comprehensible only to Buddhas. That is why Shakyamuni begins by praising the Buddha wisdom on his own initiative and not in response to any question. Indeed, his use of the unsolicited and spontaneous teaching format from the outset of this chapter underscores how profound and unfathomable the Buddha wisdom is— so much so that none of the assembly could have even conceived a question about it.
Endo: Because the Law to which the Buddha has awakened is “the rarest and most difficult-to-understand Law’ (LSOC, 57), only Buddhas can comprehend it.
Ikeda: Yes. Shakyamuni declares, “The true aspect of all phenomena can only be understood and shared between Buddhas” (LSOC, 57). It’s as if he said to Shariputra, who was lauded as foremost in wisdom”. “There’s no way you and the others can comprehend this.” This naturally must have surprised everyone present.
Suda: Shariputra’s heart probably very nearly stopped!
Saito: Shariputra demonstrated unrivaled excellence among those of the two vehicles — voice-hearers (learning) and cause-awakened ones (realization or pratyekabuddhas). Both he and others clearly recognized his status as the wisest and most learned of Shakyamuni’s disciples. When Shakyamuni declares that not even Shariputra with all his wisdom can comprehend the Buddha wisdom, the superiority and wonder of the Buddha wisdom is further emphasized.
Endo: This is great theater!
Ikeda: I agree. The question, however, is what constitutes this Buddha wisdom.
Endo: In “Expedient Means,” the Law all Buddhas have attained is expressed as “the true aspect of all phenomena.” The Great Teacher Tien-t’ai of China developed this into the doctrine of “three thousand realms in a single moment of life,” and Nichiren Daishonin defined it as Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Ikeda: Accordingly, the praise for the Buddha wisdom at the beginning of “Expedient Means” is, from the viewpoint of Nichiren Buddhism, praise for Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This is our prime reason for reciting this passage during our recitation of the sutra. Why then is this chapter, in which the true wisdom of the Buddhas — namely, the Mystic Law — begins to be elucidated, called “Expedient Means”?
Endo: You mean, why isn’t it called the “Wisdom of the Buddhas” or the “Truth” chapter? This question strikes at the very core of “Expedient Means.”
Suda: To consider this more fully, it might be best to follow the events that unfold a little further into “Expedient Means.” In response to Shakyamuni’s earnest praise of the Buddha wisdom, Shariputra, speaking for the entire assembly, begs Shakyamuni to expound the true teachings of the Buddhas. Shariputra requests this three times. Finally, after the third time, Shakyamuni accedes and begins to preach.
Endo: At that crucial moment, some five thousand arrogant monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen leave the assembly. Shakyamuni makes no move to stop them; he allows them to leave in silence.
Ikeda: Much should be said about these five thousand arrogant believers, but one lesson is clear — the arrogant depart at the most decisive moment. Shakyamuni declares firmly: “Shariputra, it is well that these persons of overbearing arrogance have withdrawn. Now listen carefully and I will preach for you” (LSOC, 63).
He then reveals to Shariputra that the “one great reason” Buddhas appear in the world is to open the door to the Buddha wisdom for all people, to show it to them, to cause them to awaken to it and gain entry to it.
“Expedient Means” reads:
The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the world for one great reason alone….
The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, wish to open the door of Buddha wisdom to all living beings, to allow them to attain purity. That is why they appear in the world. They wish to show the Buddha wisdom to living beings, and therefore they appear in the world. They wish to cause living beings to awaken to the Buddha wisdom, and therefore they appear in the world. They wish to induce living beings to enter the path of Buddha wisdom, and therefore they appear in the world. (LSOC, 64)
Suda: Yes, Shakyamuni says: “The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the world for one great reason alone” (LSOC, 64). That one great reason is revealed as the four aspects of the Buddha’s wisdom —to open, to show, to awaken and to help enter.
Ikeda: That the Buddha seeks to open the door of Buddha wisdom [the state of Buddhahood to living beings means that living beings already inherently possess the Buddha wisdom. The reason they possess the Buddha wisdom is that they are essentially Buddhas. Shakyamuni’s words are in fact a great declaration that all living beings are worthy of supreme respect.
Endo: The Buddha then reveals that the three vehicles — voice-hearers, cause-awakened ones and bodhisattva — are no more than expedient means, while the one supreme vehicle of Buddhahood offers the only true way to enlightenment.
The term vehicle refers to the Buddha’s teaching, which carries people from ignorance and confusion to enlightenment. The three vehicles carry people toward the goals of voice-hearers, cause-awakened ones and bodhisattva, respectively.
Shakyamuni declares, however, that there are not three separate teachings but only one — one single vehicle. Because it is the teaching for attaining Buddhahood, it is also known as the one Buddha
vehicle.
Ikeda: To his followers, it seemed as if Shakyamuni had set forth three separate teachings, but to the Buddha there is only one Buddha vehicle and no other. The one Buddha vehicle is a teaching that enables all people to attain Buddhahood; it is endowed with the function of opening and revealing the Buddha wisdom and awakening and guiding people to the realm of Buddhahood.
Suda: The three vehicles are expedient means to lead people to the one Buddha vehicle, which is the Buddha’s true intent and purpose.
In “Expedient Means,” Shakyamuni explains the true function of the three vehicles and reveals the truth of the one Buddha vehicle. This is referred to as “the replacement of the three vehicles with the one vehicle.” He then cites examples of how he as well as the Buddhas of the past, present and future throughout the ten directions have resorted to expedient means to help people attain the one Buddha vehicle.
Many important teachings are preached by Buddhas of each period, but let us leave this for another discussion. In essence, Shakyamuni tells us that the true intent behind the teachings of all Buddhas, including himself, is to expound the one Buddha vehicle.
The clarification of the three vehicles as expedient means and the one Buddha vehicle as the sole means to attain Buddha wisdom does not end with “Expedient Means”; it continues on through “Prophecies Conferred on Learners and Adepts,” the ninth chapter. It is a major theme of the first half — or theoretical teaching — of the Lotus Sutra.
THE LOTUS SUTRA IS THE “SECRET AND WONDERFUL EXPEDIENT”
Ikeda: We can see that expedient means form an important premise in the concept of “the replacement of the three vehicles with the one vehicle,” which is central to the “Expedient Means” chapter. In fact, the term expedient means is a key not only in clarifying the one Buddha vehicle and refuting the three vehicles in the Lotus Sutra’s theoretical teaching but also in revealing Shakyamuni’s original enlightenment numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago in the “Life Span” chapter of the essential teaching. With this revelation, it becomes clear that Shakyamuni’s attainment of enlightenment in India was an expedient means, while in truth he attained enlightenment in the inconceivably distant past. This concept is called “opening the near and revealing the distant.”
Saito: Viewed from the Lotus Sutra as a whole, we could even say that the subject of expedient means is given far greater weight than the “replacement of the three vehicles with the one vehicle” itself.
Endo: In the Sanskrit text, the expression “expedient means” of the “Expedient Means” chapter is upaya kaushalya. Upaya means “approach” or “means of approach,” and kaushalya means “excellent” or “skillful.”
Ikeda: In other words, expedient means are educational techniques for leading people to Buddhahood. The spirit of the Lotus Sutra is to bring each human being’s enormous potential into fullest flower, and for that the Buddha uses expedient means. Expedient means are methods for educating people in the broadest sense.
In fact, the first Soka Gakkai president, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, who was also an educator, outlined his own educational method in terms of opening, showing, awakening and guiding. What Mr. Makiguchi did was to incorporate the Buddha’s method for leading people to enlightenment into his own educational method.
Endo: I didn’t know that. But it certainly makes sense. Mr. Makiguchi’s educational system always aimed to maximize each student’s potential. He maintained: “Education is not selling bits of knowledge or pouring information into a student’s head. True education is awakening in the student a method for acquiring knowledge through his or her own powers, providing the student with the key to unlock the storehouse of knowledge.”!
Ikeda: Mr. Makiguchi asserted that vague educational goals were the underlying problem with education in his day, and he declared, “The purpose of education is to make children happy.” At a time when many regarded education’s purpose as developing people who would be “useful to the nation,” Mr. Makiguchi’s educational view, which placed the highest importance on children and on the individual, was revolutionary indeed. The main objective of value-creating education at its inception, therefore, was to help each individual develop the power to achieve personal happiness.
Mr. Makiguchi also insisted that education requires special techniques, just as do the fields of medicine, agriculture and engineering. Merely pouring knowledge into the empty vessel of the student or hoping that some vague character-building will take place through the teacher’s natural influence would not suffice as tools for proper education, he asserted. Techniques — in other words, expedient means — were needed.
Based on that idea, Mr. Makiguchi categorized teachers into three levels: those lacking technique; those possessing technique; and those possessing art. Mr. Makiguchi gave his heart and soul to searching for the best way to contribute to children’s happiness — how to bring out their abilities, their capacity for value creation, so they could lead happy lives; how to open the door to their individual potential — to help show them, awaken them and gain them entry to it. Mr. Makiguchi’s system of pedagogy was not just an armchair theory but an approach born out of actual practice in the classroom, his love for children and his compassionate wish to help them.
Saito: That love and compassion gave rise to a great body of wisdom. And that, I think, is the very life of value-creating education. I am reminded of the dilemma facing Shakyamuni after he attained enlightenment. He is said to have been troubled over whether he should teach his enlightenment to others. In “Expedient Means” Shakyamuni describes his reasons for hesitating:
Shariputra, you should understand
that I view things through the Buddha eye,
I see the living beings in the six paths,
how poor and distressed they are, without merit
or wisdom,
how they enter the perilous road of birth and death,
their sufferings continuing with never a break,
how deeply they are attached to the five desires,
like a yak enamored of its tail,
blinding themselves with greed and infatuation,
their vision so impaired they can see nothing
They do not seek the Buddha, with his great might,
or the Law that can end their suffering,
but enter deeply into erroneous views,
hoping to shed suffering through greater suffering.
For the sake of these living beings
I summon up a mind of great compassion. (LSOC, 76)
Suda: Shakyamuni was also aware of how hard people were to save:
With persons such as this,
what can I say, how can I save them?…
Immediately I thought to myself
that if I merely praised the Buddha vehicle,
then the living beings, sunk in their suffering,
would be incapable of believing in this Law.
And because they rejected the Law and failed
to believe in it,
they would fall into the three evil paths.
It would be better if I did not preach the Law
but quickly entered into nirvana.
Then my thoughts turned to the Buddhas of the past
and the power of expedient means they had employed,
and I thought that the way I had now attained
should likewise be preached as three vehicles. (LSOC, 77)
Saito: Then the Buddhas of the ten directions encourage Shakyamuni:
But following the example of all other Buddhas,
you will employ the power of expedient means. (LSOC, 77)
When Shakyamuni hears this, he rejoices and cries, “Hail to the Buddhas!” and then thinks to himself:
I have come into this impure and evil world, and as these Buddhas have preached,
I too must follow that example in my actions. (LSOC, 78)
Ikeda: Shakyamuni’s hesitation derived from his profound compassion. To have compassion means to feel others’ sufferings as one’s own. Because the Buddha is filled with the desire to save others, he agonizes over how to achieve this. Such compassion gives rise to wisdom. This is the power of expedient means and the art of human education. In a certain sense, therefore, a Buddha is someone who is always thinking and agonizing over how to develop others’ ability to achieve happiness, as well as over how to fulfill his or her own mission.
Saito: The “Life Span” section we recite each morning and evening concludes:
At all times I think to myself:
How can I cause living beings
to gain entry into the unsurpassed way
and quickly acquire the body of a Buddha? (LSOC, 273)
By asking himself “How?” the Buddha ponders which means or method would best achieve this aspiration. This passage, too, lead people to happiness. highlights his compassion to continuously think about how to
Ikeda: In “Expedient Means,” Shakyamuni says, “I have through various causes and various similes widely expounded my teachings” (LSOC, 56). Depending on his audience, the Buddha employs different causes and different similes to lead people to the right Path. This Buddha ability is called “the power of expedient means?’ It is the ability to know precisely what to teach each individual at any given moment.
In other words, it is the ability to perceive each individual’s precise state of being and the wisdom to select the most appropriate teaching for that person. It is also the power of compassion that seeks to nurture all people so that they may attain Buddhahood. The source of all these abilities and powers is the profound and immeasurable Buddha wisdom.
Endo: Tien-t’ai called that essential Buddha wisdom “true wisdom,” and he termed the power of expedient means arising from it “provisional wisdom.” Shakyamuni praises these two kinds of wisdom— the true and the provisional — at the opening of “Expedient Means.”
Suda: Translated into Mr. Makiguchi’s terminology, the “power of expedient means” corresponds to art beyond mere technique; more specifically, it corresponds to the highest art of human education.
Saito: Let us now look at the different kinds of expedient means in Buddhism. In Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra, T’ien-t ai Identifies three types: “functional-teaching expedients,” “truth-gateway expedients,” and the “secret and wonderful expedient.” Of the three, says T’ien-t’ai, the last is the expedient means of the “Expedient Means” chapter.
Functional-teaching expedients are the various teachings expounded according to people’s differing capacities, the function of these teachings being to bring appropriate benefit to each person. Truth-gateway expedients are teachings that form a gateway for gaining access to the truth, hence the name.
Neither of these two types, however, are the expedient means of the “Expedient Means” chapter. They are two aspects of the expedient means taught in the provisional teachings expounded before the Lotus Sutra. The functional-teaching expedients represent the aspect of bringing immediate benefit, while the truth-gateway expedients represent the aspect of leading people to truth.
Endo: We could cite Shakyamuni’s denunciation of those of the two vehicles, who contented themselves with inferior teachings, as having both these aspects. It was a truth-gateway expedient in that it directed the followers of the two vehicles to the truth, yet it also had the aspect of a functional-teaching expedient in that it awakened them from their self-absorption.
At times the Buddha brings joy to living beings, at times he admonishes them sternly. Is it going too far to say it is like the carrot-and-stick method?
Ikeda: I think that would be doing Shakyamuni a bit of a disservice — though there may be a kernel of truth in your observation!
The Buddha’s teaching methods are indeed skillful. Among his honorary titles are “Teacher of Heavenly and Human Beings” and “Trainer of People.’ The Buddha is a teacher of not only humans but heavenly beings as well, and as a trainer of people, he is skilled at forging harmony among people. These titles derive from the fact that the Buddha leads people unerringly based on the loftiest of goals. The Buddha, then, is a superlative teacher of human education.
To return to our subject, when Shakyamuni declares in “Expedient Means” that he will now preach the Law, “honestly discarding expedient means” (LSOC, 79), he is discarding the two types of expedient means we have discussed so far— functional-teaching expedients and truth-gateway expedients. The secret and wonderful expedient is another thing altogether. It is not an expedient to be discarded; it is an expedient that represents the truth
Endo: We normally tend to regard an expedient means as a method for arriving at the truth rather than as the ultimate truth itself. This makes it extremely difficult to understand the secret and wonderful expedient, which, though termed an expedient, is actually the truth.’
Ikeda: Yes, I agree. Mr. Toda, too, racked his brain over how best to explain the doctrine of the secret and wonderful expedient in a way all could easily understand.
As mentioned earlier, expedient implies an approach, a method leading to a goal. I think we can conceive of two directions in which Buddhist expedients move. One is from daily reality to a state of enlightenment. This applies to functional-teaching expedients and truth-gateway expedients. The other is from the realm of enlightenment to everyday reality. This direction expresses that enlightenment in terms of the real world. This is the direction of the secret and wonderful expedient. Thus, though termed an expedient like the others, the direction in which the secret and wonderful expedient functions is completely opposite of the others.
Suda: In that respect, the three types of expedients are similar to the “three assemblies in two places,” which we discussed earlier, aren’t they? The dynamic from Eagle Peak to the Ceremony in the Air is equivalent to functional-teaching and truth-gateway expedients, while the dynamic from the Ceremony in the Air back to Eagle Peak is equivalent to the secret and wonderful expedient.
Ikeda: Yes, I think you can say that. The wisdom of the Buddhas is profound and immeasurable. It is the ultimate truth, and it cannot be fully described in words. In “Expedient Means,” Shakyamuni calls out:
Stop, stop, no need to speak!
My Law is wonderful and difficult to ponder. (LSOC, 62)
To try to teach this indescribable and inconceivable truth in words, to give it some form of expression — this can only be called an expedient means. Driven by his profound compassion for living beings, however, the Buddha nevertheless resolved to attempt to expound the inexpressible truth. This is the secret and wonderful expedient, an expedient identical to Buddha wisdom.
Endo: T’ien-t’ai described functional-teaching and truth-gateway expedients as expedients outside the body of truth, and the secret and wonderful expedient as an expedient identical to the body of truth. In other words, the first two types of expedients stand outside the true Buddha wisdom, while the latter is one and the same as the truth. This restates what you just said.
Ikeda: The secret and wonderful expedient is the heart of “Expedient Means,” hence the chapter’s title. Secret of “secret and wonderful expedient” (OTT, 22) refers to the fact that it is only known and understood by Buddhas. In other words, only Buddhas know the truth that all living beings are Buddhas.
Though that truth is hidden, under certain external conditions it can be revealed. That unfathomable reality of life is called “wonderful.” In terms of the Ten Worlds, the world of Buddhahood is hidden in the lives of the people of the nine worlds. Upon contact with the appropriate external conditions, however, it can be manifested within the nine worlds. This wonder is called wonderful.
In connection with the secret and wonderful expedient, Mr. Toda once said:
You and I are ordinary people. Yet, at the same time, each of us is theoretically a Buddha. To attain Buddhahood means to know that one is a Buddha. This wondrous fact is secret and hidden; hence, the designation
“secret and wonderful.” Buddhas appear in the saha world as ordinary human beings to undergo sufferings in order to save people. This is the principle of the secret and wonderful expedient.
All of you are Bodhisattvas of the Earth. When you have truly grasped this principle with the very depths of your being, you can understand the “Expedient Means” chapter.
And on another occasion, he said:
The fact that we are just ordinary common mortals is the secret and wonderful expedient; the truth is that we are Buddhas. The Gohonzon is also enshrined in our hearts. The very heart of Nichiren Buddhism, therefore, lies in the conviction that the Gohonzon enshrined in our Buddhist altar is identical to our own lives.
We ordinary people are Buddhas, just as we are. This is inconceivable, beyond the scope of our comprehension. Therefore, it is “wonderful.” Those who don’t believe in the Lotus Sutra cannot understand this. Therefore, it is “secret.”
Saito: In The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, Nichiren Daishonin explains the significance of the secret and wonderful expedient as follows:
That all living things are in fact the Buddha of the true aspect of all phenomena is a wonderful thing, an unfathomable thing! But persons who slander the Law are at present unaware of this fact. Therefore, it is referred to as secret. (OTT, 22)
Ikeda: When we realize that we ourselves are Buddhas, then we understand the secret and wonderful expedient. The Daishonin writes: “Nevertheless, even though you chant and believe in Myoho-renge-kyo, if you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but an inferior teaching” (WND-I, 3).
Mystic of “secret and wonderful expedient” indicates the wonder, the unfathomable nature of human life. In other words, the nine worlds are all entities of Buddhahood. This is the principle that “the nine worlds have the potential for Buddhahood.” When one understands this truth, it becomes apparent that Buddhahood does not manifest itself anywhere apart from the nine worlds of ordinary living beings. It only appears within the nine worlds. This is the principle that “Buddhahood retains the nine worlds.”
If we regard our goal of Buddhahood as “truth” and the nine worlds as “expedient means”, then expedient means are identical to truth (the nine worlds have the potential for Buddhahood), while truth is identical to expedient means (Buddhahood retains the nine worlds). This is the meaning of the secret and wonderful expedient.
For example, after we have embraced faith in the Gohonzon, the sufferings of the nine worlds are no longer mere sufferings. Instead, they serve to invigorate our faith and strengthen the state of Buddhahood within our lives; they become sufferings in terms of the secret and wonderful expedient, in that by triumphing over them, we can show proof of our Buddhahood to others. Suffering becomes a source of motivation — like a megaphone cheering us on to further spiritual growth and achievement.
Endo: The Daishonin writes:
The five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo represent the ninth consciousness, while the Expedient Means represents the levels from the eighth to the first five consciousnesses. The ninth consciousness is the realm of enlightenment, while the levels from the eighth to the first five consciousnesses are the realm of delusion. Since the chapter is entitled Myoho-renge-kyo Hoben-bon, “The Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law, Expedient Means Chapter, this indicates that delusion and enlightenment are not two different things. This means that, of all the myriad phenomena and the three thousand realms, there are none that are not part of the truth of the Expedient Means of Myoho-renge-kyo. (OTT, 223)
Ikeda: To those who believe in Nichiren Buddhism, all phenomena —birth and death, suffering and joy, benefit and loss, all things and events, all forms and appearances — are manifestations of the Mystic Law as well as expedient means that lead us to the Mystic Law. Mr. Toda said, “Both loss and benefit are expedient means.”
Let us look at the example of a person who, before starting to practice Nichiren Buddhism, was afflicted by a problem. As a result, he or she was probably in the state of hell. That problem, however, motivated that person to embrace the Gohonzon. In such a case, the world of hell is immediately transformed into Buddhahood. The particular problem served as a functional-teaching expedient or a truth-gateway expedient for the individual, though of the two, I’m more inclined to say it’s a truth-gateway expedient.
Yet even after we embrace faith, we continue to experience various problems and suffering. We may reach a deadlock and be unable to break through. But because of our Buddhist practice, any problem we encounter serves as an opportunity to show actual proof of the power of faith. Here, we see the secret and wonderful expedient at work.
Problems or difficulties encountered in the course of our efforts for kosen-rufu, in particular, exemplify the principles that “the world of hell contains the world of the bodhisattva” and “the world of Buddhahood contains the world of hell” No problems or difficulties could be nobler than these. The more we challenge and triumph over our problems, the stronger Buddhahood grows within us. In that sense, if our faith is strong, negative factors immediately transform into positive factors, and loss transforms into merit. To a person of faith, everything that happens in life becomes a benefit,
Whatever our circumstances, everything that happens is a vital scene in the drama of our present lifetime in this world — the drama of attaining Buddhahood, which is synonymous with the process of human revolution. Everything is an expedient means (the nine worlds) to reveal the truth (the world of Buddhahood). This is the function of the secret and wonderful expedient.
The Daishonin writes: “Suffer what there is to suffer, enjoy what there is to enjoy. Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life, and continue chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, no matter what happens. How could this be anything other than the boundless joy of the Law?” (WND-I, 681).
Suffering and joy are expedients of the nine worlds. To chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is to be in the world of Buddhahood, the realm of the Buddha’s true wisdom.
From the vast, elevated state of life we attain through our practice of faith, we gaze serenely upon all sufferings and joys, and at the same time we savor the joy of the Mystic Law. This is what it means to have read the “Expedient Means” chapter with one’s entire being.
Saito: I think we can also explore this view of expedient means from the perspective of the eternity of life. In the “Prophecy of Enlightenment for Five Hundred Disciples” chapter, we find the passage:
Before the multitude they [the sons of the Buddha] 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. (LSOC, 185)
This means that even those born as ordinary mortals steeped in the three poisons or deluded by heretical views can lead others in the same condition to enlightenment once they awaken to the Mystic Law. Their circumstances then become expedient means for guiding others.
Ikeda: Yes. This is something we come to appreciate once we awaken to our fundamental mission to practice the eternal Law of Myoho-renge-kyo ourselves and at the same time teach it to others. This is the profoundest view of human life.
We who uphold the Mystic Law are fundamentally noble Bodhisattvas of the Earth. We are comrades who pledged together at the Ceremony in the Air to carry out kosen-rufu. Mr. Toda often called upon members to “recall” that fact.
At the same time, we are ordinary human beings. We appear in this form and experience various sufferings all at our own seeking. This is the principle that practitioners voluntarily choose to be born in adverse circumstances so that they may help others. Being born as a common mortal is the karma (expedient means) we have taken on so that we may demonstrate the power of the Mystic Law (truth). It is, therefore, inconceivable that we cannot overcome any problem that confronts us. We are all playing a leading role, having taken our place in this trouble-filled saha world to act out the drama of kosen-rufu.
Endo: At times we forget we are playing a role [that it is all an expedient means]; we give ourselves up so completely to being the anguished and tormented hero that we end up drowning in pain and suffering. But we mustn’t let that happen.
Saito: Let’s pursue our discussion on the secret and wonderful expedient a little further. Consider the relationship between expedient means and the ultimate truth in terms of the provisional teachings (the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings) and the true teaching (the Lotus Sutra). The provisional teachings (expedient means) have one meaning before embracing faith in Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and a different meaning atter. Before embracing faith, Nichiren Daishonin states, they are “the provisional teachings outside the body of truth,” and after, they become “the provisional teachings within the body of truth.”
He says:
But in the end persons who slander the Law and fail to have faith in it are followers of the provisional teachings outside the body of the truth, the teachings represented by two types of expedient means known as “adaptations of the Law” and those “that can lead one in.”… Now Nichiren and his followers, who recite Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, are observers of the “secret and wonderful expedient means,” teachings that are within the body of truth. (OTT, 21-22).
Once one enters the realm of the wisdom of the Lotus Sutra (the true teaching), all other extemporaneous teachings expounded by the Buddha up to that point (the provisional teachings) become provisional teachings within the body of truth, and each is given its proper place and role within the whole. Thus, without being discarded, the provisional teachings become partial truths that bear testimony to the Lotus Sutra’s ultimate truth.
Ikeda: Yes. In terms of the earlier example, our various experiences before taking faith in Nichiren Buddhism are provisional teachings outside the body of truth and correspond to “adaptations of the Law” and those “than can lead one in” expedients.
The wondrous thing about the Mystic Law is that after embracing faith in the Gohonzon, not only do all our subsequent experiences shine as the secret and wonderful expedient, but even our experiences before taking faith come alive — as provisional teachings within the body of truth. President Toda often said: “All the experiences of your life come alive. One comes to understand that not a single instant was wasted. This is the great benefit of the Mystic Law.”
Suda: What a wonderful principle that is!
Ikeda: The doctrine of the secret and wonderful expedient teaches us that even people who do not yet uphold the Mystic Law, though it is likely they don’t know it themselves (for it is secret), are actually one with the Mystic Law (hence, “mystic”). Because of this, in the depths of their being, they are seeking the Mystic Law.
In The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, Nichiren Daishonin says: “Even persons who are called great slanderers of the Law will in time come to accept and uphold Myoho-renge-kyo — this is the purpose of the ‘Expedient Means’ chapter of the Lotus Sutra” (OTT, 22).
There are many things I still would like to discuss about the secret and wonderful expedient, but since it is a theme that runs throughout the Lotus Sutra, let us wait until another opportunity.
The point I want to make here is that, as noted earlier, the Buddhist concept of expedient means is also a superlative educational concept.
Suda: You once said: “True religious commitment and the true spirit of education are actually two manifestations of the same Ideal of the complete liberation of the human being.”
Saito: This means that the true spirit of education and the spirit of the Lotus Sutra are two aspects of the same thing.
In his article “The Lotus Sutra and Value-Creating Education,” President Makiguchi also writes: “In other words, it is my greatest joy and honor to declare that the philosophical core of value-creating education can be found in the Lotus Sutra’s essence. My conviction is such that I can state unequivocally to not only Japan but the entire world that no true educational reform is possible unless it is based on the teaching of the Lotus Sutra.
Ikeda: Mr. Makiguchi wanted to make the ideal of human education, which pioneering educators such as Switzerland’s Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi and others had been advocating for years, take root in Japanese society. And Mr. Makiguchi, at the end of his quest for education that contributes to human happiness, reached the Lotus Sutra.
Pestalozzi wrote: “All pure powers of benediction brought forth by humanity are not gifts of skill or chance. They lie in the inner nature of all human beings, along with other inherent qualities. The development of these powers is the common necessity of all humankind.”
In pursuing this common necessity, Mr. Makiguchi advocated an educational revolution, and he further concluded that the only way to achieve it was through a religious revolution based on the Lotus Sutra.
Let us explore this educational spirit, this common wish of humanity. I recently read an interview with Professor Robert Thurman, chairman of the Department of Religion of Columbia University.
Saito: It’s from a newsletter published by the SGI-USA Boston Research Center for the 21st Century. The article begins with a question: “How do you view the role of education in society, and what influenced your thinking on the subject?” Dr. Thurman replies: “I think the question should rather be: What is the role of society in education? Because in my view education is the purpose of human life.
Ikeda: Dr. Thurman’s reply continues, but I was deeply moved by his opening words. His profound view of humanity is apparent here. In other words, he views education not as a part or offshoot of society; it is an inherent part of human beings and their most fundamental endeavor. Human beings cannot exist apart from education, and that is why the relationship of teacher and student, mentor and disciple, is one of the most important things in life.
Suda: Dr. Thurman is using the term education in its broadest and deepest sense, not as a system or institution.
Ikeda: Yes. Dr. Thurman declares, “Education is the purpose of human life.” To rephrase this, we might ask: For what purpose are human beings born? The answer is, to develop their lives to the fullest possible potential through education. In its ultimate form, this means to open the door to and show people the Buddha wisdom, to awaken them to it and guide them onto its path.
Saito: Professor Thurman continues: “Of course, what influenced me in [my view of education] is the teaching of the Buddha, which I perceive to be an educational teaching in the truest sense…. Buddhist practice really is to transform the individual and is thus part of the process of educating.”
Ikeda: A keen perception indeed. Human education and Buddhism are two aspects of the same reality. That is why Mr. Makiguchi’s quest in the educational realm brought him to the Lotus Sutra and why I, based on the Lotus Sutra, actively promote a movement for education and culture.
Let us look at Buddhism as an educational movement in terms of the concept of expedient means. Clearly it is a movement emphasizing self-education with the aim of unlocking and developing our inherent Buddha nature while at the same time bringing forth diverse wisdom and using various expedient means to help others tap their Buddhahood. This development of potential, this education of oneself and others, is the noblest path a human being can ever pursue.
Endo: We could say, then, that the moment the enlightened Shakyamuni broke through his hesitation, resolved to preach the True Law to people mired in suffering, and first employed expedient means encompasses the essence of what life as a human is fundamentally supposed to be.
Ikeda: Shakyamuni’s life after his enlightenment was a continuation of that moment. Expedient means represent the compassion, wisdom and action to lead others to happiness. They can never be fixed into any one pattern; they embody the spirit of challenging oneself to the very limits to find ways to lead people to happiness on a wider and more profound level.
THE SPIRIT OF RAISING CAPABLE PEOPLE
Suda: In our SGI activities, it is important that we all strive to educate ourselves and also help train and raise others.
Ikeda: That is a very crucial point. Propagating the teachings, as well as fostering and raising capable people, are all activities that accord with the Lotus Sutra’s spirit. Other SGI cultural and social activities only take on profound significance when they contribute to developing people of ability and bring more and more people into contact with Buddhism.
In “Expedient Means,” Shakyamuni states:
at the start I took a vow, hoping to make all persons
equal to me, without any distinction between us. (LSOC, 70)
The Buddha vows to elevate all people to the same state of life as his own. This is the spirit to raise capable people, to enable people to develop to their fullest potential. This is also the spirit underlying the mentor-disciple relationship.
Of course, since we also strive to keep growing and developing ourselves, the determination to bring others not only to our level but above and beyond is the true spirit of the Buddha’s vow to “make all persons equal to me, without any distinction between us.” Saito: By contrast, not only do the priests of Nichiren Shoshu under Nikken care nothing for educating others, they refuse to recognize those who surpass them in any way. This is completely opposed to the Lotus Sutra’s spirit. Religions gone astray behave in this manner.
Ikeda: The true essence of humanism lies in our compassion and earnest commitment to pray and exert ourselves for the growth of our fellow members, particularly those newer in faith. The SGI is a humanistic organization. It isn’t run on authority or orders from above. It moves forward with the joy of being in contact with genuine humanity.
The poetic genius of the great Russian writer Aleksandr Pushkin was nurtured by the humanity of his old nurse, a humble serf. He called her Mother and trusted her from the bottom of his heart. The folk stories he heard from her, told in the words of the common people, inspired his writings that have moved so many to this day.
Similarly, with the support and encouragement of her beloved teacher, Anne Sullivan Macy, Helen Keller, who could neither see nor hear, gained entry into Harvard’s Radcliffe College. Ms. Macy devoted her life to serving as Helen’s eyes and ears, sacrificing the freedom to pursue her own talents and potential.
In her later years, Anne Macy, along with Helen, was offered an honorary doctorate. But she refused, saying she was overjoyed that her student Helen received the honor, and that was enough for her. She did eventually accept an honorary doctorate the following year — a distinction that came just four years before her death. When Ms. Macy died, Helen Keller vowed to carry on the life of service her teacher had devoted to her. In her teacher’s spirit, she launched a global movement to assist the blind and deaf and improve their lot.
Anne Sullivan Macy was a dedicated teacher, a woman who spent her entire life helping behind the scenes. Isn’t this the true portrait of a champion of human education? In that sense, how noble and praiseworthy are our SGl members, who cherish the Mystic Law in their hearts and strive wholeheartedly day and night to educate and foster capable people.
In “Expedient Means,” we find the passage, “This Law cannot be described, words fall silent before it” (LSOC, 58). Just as the greatness of the Mystic Law cannot be described in words, the greatness of a life dedicated to the Mystic Law is also beyond description.
Saito: Speaking of educating and fostering others, I will never forget the words of Lu Xun that you’ve quoted: “In life, it is a joy to nurture others, even though one knows that in doing so, shedding one drop of blood at a time, one grows weaker and frailer.”
Ikeda: I am nurturing and educating our youth today in exactly the same spirit, and I hope you will do so, as well. This is the way for a person who believes in the Lotus Sutra to live — the path of the oneness of mentor and disciple. When mentor and disciple work as one to promote an educational movement that inspires and awakens people’s humanity and nourishes all humankind, their unstinting contribution to society exemplifies the principles that Buddhahood retains the nine worlds and the nine worlds have the potential for Buddhahood. It becomes a dynamic demonstration of the secret and wonderful expedient.