but later on he says thatQUESTION: What is the entity of Myoho-renge-kyo?
Answer: All beings and their environments in any of the Ten Worlds are themselves entities of Myoho-renge-kyo.
Question: If so, then is it possible to say that all living beings, such as ourselves, are entities of the Mystic Law in its entirety?
Answer: Of course. The sutra says, “This reality [the true aspect of all phenomena] consists of the appearance, nature . . . and their consistency from beginning to end.”1
The Great Teacher Miao-lo comments on this as follows: “The true aspect invariably manifests in all phenomena, and all phenomena invariably manifest in the ten factors. The ten factors invariably manifest in the Ten Worlds, and the Ten Worlds invariably manifest in life and its environment.”2
T’ien-t’ai commented, “All phenomena consisting of the ten factors, Ten Worlds, and three thousand realms are entities of the Lotus Sutra.”
How can this contradiction be solved?Question: If all living beings are entities of Myoho-renge-kyo, then are ordinary people like ourselves who are ignorant and deluded, unenlightened and dull-witted, also entities of the Mystic Law?
Answer: Though there are a great many people in the world today, they all fall into two categories—those who believe in the provisional teachings and those who believe in the true teaching. Those who believe in the provisional and expedient teachings, such as the Nembutsu, cannot be called entities of Myoho-renge-kyo. But those who believe in the Lotus Sutra, which is the true teaching, are entities of Myoho-renge-kyo, mystic entities of the true aspect of reality.
Also, I read somewhere that expedient means are only useful if viewed from the standpoint of the lotus sutra? Can someone clarify why that is so?