The Lotus Sutra, however, is the teaching which contains Shakyamuni’s declaration that he would now “honestly discard the provisional teachings.” It is the sutra of which Taho Buddha said, “All that you [Shakyamuni Buddha] have expounded is the truth.” It demands that its believers be “honest and upright, gentle in mind,” “ gentle, peaceful and upright,” and so on. Those who believe in this sutra, therefore must have minds which are as straight as a tight-stretched bowstring or a carpenter’s inking line.
Letter to Nichimyo Shonin
The meaning of this passage is that those who obtained benefit during the Former and Middle Days of the Law received “conspicuous” benefit, because the relationship they formed with the Lotus Sutra during the lifetime of the Buddha had finally matured. On the other, those born today in the Latter Day of the Law receive the seeds of Buddhahood for the first time, and their benefit is therefore “inconspicuous”.
The Teaching, Practice, and Proof (WND, 474)
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