The Twenty Important Principles of the Lotus Sutra acknowledged by Nichiren

[Shingyo]

This is an old thread, but I’m wondering where this list comes from.

I didn't know either so I did some digging and came across this from a Yahoo Group here:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/irg ... opics/9670

The 20 important things ND mentioned here is from "Hokke Mongu Ki" (
the Annotations on "The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra") written
by Miao-lo. The book is a commentary on "Hokke Mongu" of T'ien-t'ai. ND
explained these twenty things in a treatise titled as "Twenty superior
teachings of the Lotus Sutra" which, I'm sorry, is neither translated
into English nor found in SGI's Gosho Zenshu. This gosho is said to be
written in the third year of Kenji when ND was fifty-six years old.
ND explained the 20 teachings briefly citing from the LS. The twenty
important things are as below ( I added the chapter number of LS which
ND cited ).

1) Giving the prophecy of enlightenment in near future to two vehicles
(chap. 3)
2) Showing (or Opening )Buddha's original enlightenment and his
immeasurable life span (chap 16)
3) Praising that benefits will accrue even to the fiftieth person who
rejoices upon hearing of it (chap 18)
4) Person who hear of the 阿含 attains Buddhahood in this lifetime
(chap 17)
5) Shakyamuni shows that Devadatta was his true teacher in the past
life (chap 12)
6) Manjushiri shows that eight-year-old dragon king's daughter was his
student in the past life (chap 12)
7) Giving the promise that anyone who hears only one phrase of the LS
shall attain Buddhahood (chap 10)
8) Anyone who protects the name of the LS will receive innumerable
benefits (chap 26)
9) Women who hear the chapter of Medicine King shall never receive
women's lives or be born as women (chap 23) ( of course this is not
kawai's opinion, the LS reads so
10) Anyone who hears and reads and recites the LS shall know neither
old age nor death (chap 23)
11) Those who carry out five practices shall get to the stage of
resemblance to enlightenment (chap 19)
12) Those who carry out four Peaceful Practices shall get into copper-
wheel in their dream (chap 14)

(Here perhaps some explanation should be given. T'ien-t'ai connected
four wheel-kings, which you can find in traditional Indian folk stories,
with stages of enlightenment in "The Words and Phrases of the LS".
Miao-lo commented on this saying that copper-wheel king means four
Peaceful Practices. ND gives nothing but two passages from the LS as
below

Again he will see himself
in the midst of mountains and forests
practicing the good Law,
understanding the true nature of all phenomena,
deeply entering meditation
and seeing the Buddhas of the ten directions.

Again he will dream he is king of a country
but casts aside palaces and attendants
and the superb and wonderful objects of the five desires,
repairs to the place of practice
and under the bodhi tree
seats himself in a lion seat,
seeking the way, and after seven days
gains the wisdom of the Buddhas.
)

13) Those who vex or trouble the practitioners of the LS will have
their heads split into seven pieces (chap 26)
14) Those who alms to the practitioners of the LS will enjoy good
fortune surpassing the ten honorable titles (chap 10)
15) Among the sutras Shakyamuni has preached, now preach, and will
preach, the LS is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult
to understand. (chap 10)
16) Offering ten similes to praise the teachings of the LS. (chap 23)
17) Maitreya doesn't know any single one of Bodhisattvas of the Earth.
(chap 15)
18) The Omen of Lotus in the east which even Manjushiri didn't
understand (chap 24)
19) Teaching major world system dust particle kalpas to bodhisattvas of
the theoretical teaching. (chap 07)
20) Giving a metaphor of numberless major world system dust particle
kalpas to show the original enlightenment (chap 16)

ND also mentioned some of these 20 items in the Gosho "The Teaching,
Practice, and Proof".

[markatex]

Thank you! I’m not sure why that discussion never showed up in my searches. I’ll look for that goibun when I have a minute.

[illarraza]

Might be a reference to the benefits of a copper wheel turning king.

It is like a powerful
Wheel-turning king
Who bestows rewards
Upon soldiers successful in battle:
Elephants, horses, carriages,
Personal ornaments,
As well as fields, houses,
Villages, cities, and countries.

Or he may give clothing
Or various rare treasures,
Servants or other valuables,
Giving them joyfully.

Should there be a hero
Who can do difficult deeds,
The king will take from his top-knot
His bright pearl, and give it to him. -- LS Chapter 14

[illarraza]

you never fail to surprise me queequeg.
just when i think you give me a non answer...i realize it is more than i hoped for.
ta very much

Actually, in the Lotus Sutra it states:
He profoundly understands the signs of guilt and good fortune
and illuminates the ten directions everywhere.
His subtle, wonderful, pure Dharma body
is endowed with the thirty-two features;
the eighty characteristics
adorn his Dharma body.
Heavenly and human beings gaze up in awe,
dragons too all pay honor and respect;
among all living beings,
none who do not hold him in reverence.
And having heard his teachings, I have attained enlightenment—
the Buddha alone can bear witness to this.
I unfold the doctrines of the great vehicle
to rescue living beings from suffering.

Actually, she transformed into a man to prove to Shariputra that she did indeed attain enlightenment as an eight year old girl. I( agree that the Twenty Important Principles were written for those who still believed that a woman had to transform her form.

Nichiren writes:

"There are twenty mystic principles, ten in the theoretical teaching and ten in the essential teaching."
They were set forth by Tientai in his Profound Meaning.

Mark

[illarraza]

This is an old thread, but I’m wondering where this list comes from.

It comes from Tientai's Profound Meaning. I don't remember where I found it.

Mark

[illarraza]

This is an old thread, but I’m wondering where this list comes from.

It comes from Tientai's Profound Meaning. I don't remember where I found it.

Mark

I wrote this before reading Shingyo's fine analysis. Perhaps the Twenty Important Principles and Twenty Mystic principles are different, one from Profound Meaning and one from the Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra.

Mark

[Shingyo]

Thank you! I’m not sure why that discussion never showed up in my searches. I’ll look for that goibun when I have a minute.

Not a problem at all. I enjoy those kind of things.
I had to sign in to Yahoo Groups for the post to be visible. Before that, I only found the link to that post through some other reference to it on a completely different site. It was an adventure.