OTHER teachings or sutras of Shakyamuni represent the teachings of the Buddha, while the Lotus Sutra represents both the teachings of the Buddha and the embodiment of the Buddha's wisdom. Shakyamuni said of the Lotus Sutra that "among those sutras the Lotus is the foremost," and that "among the sutras I have preached, now preach and will preach, this Lotus Sutra is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand." Nichiren Daishonin wrote, "If one puts sincere faith in each character and brushstroke in it, then one will become a Buddha in one's present form."

The practice of Nichiren Shoshu is the recitation of the title and two chapters (2nd and 16th) of the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren Daishonin remarked that "Among the entire twenty-eight chapters, the Hoben [2nd] and Juryo [16th] chapters are particularly outstanding. The remaining are all in a sense the branches and leaves of these two chapters. Therefore I recommend that you practice reading the prose sections of the Hoben and Juryo chapters."

One of the several messages conveyed in the second chapter is: "Of those who hear the Law, not one fails to become a Buddha." From the 16th chapter comes the message: "the nine worlds are present in the beginningless Buddhahood, and Buddhahood exists in the beginningless nine worlds."

To recite these two chapters in the morning and evening is considered the secondary practice. To recite and protect the daimoku or title of the Lotus Sutra, that is Namu-myoho-renge-kyo, is the essential and primary practice.

ELEMENTS OF PRACTICE