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Nichiren Buddhism is based primarily on Lotus Sutra. More precisely: • Central scripture: The Lotus Sutra (Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra) • Core practice: Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which is the title of the Lotus Sutra expressed as a mantra. • Founder: Nichiren (13th century) Nichiren taught that: • The Lotus Sutra contains the complete and final teaching of the Buddha. • All beings already possess Buddha-nature. • Chanting the sutra’s title is the direct means to awaken it in everyday life. While Nichiren Buddhists may study other sutras and commentaries, all doctrine, practice, and authority ultimately return to the Lotus Sutra.
Pu Songling commentary
People who pass the lotus pond believe the marvel lies in the flower. They stop, straighten their collars, and prepare a thought worthy of being remembered. Yet the pond has seen many such people, and it has never remembered a single one.
In old times it was said that spirits prefer quiet places. This is partly true. More precisely, spirits prefer places where humans stop explaining themselves. The lotus thrives there not because it is virtuous, but because it is unattended.
I once heard of a scholar who praised the lotus daily. Each morning he bowed, each evening he sighed. The lotus grew no larger for his devotion. One summer it bloomed poorly, and the scholar accused the soil of moral failure. That night he dreamed the mud rose up and recited his essays back to him, word for word, until he begged it to stop.
When he woke, he understood only this: that mud listens very carefully.
Lotus, ghost, fox, man—none of these cling to names unless pressed. It is scholars who insist on labels, and then complain when the labels answer back. A fox may borrow a human face for amusement, but a human borrows certainty and calls it truth.
Those who speak of purity often fear contact. Those who speak of transformation usually mean someone else should change. The lotus does neither. It opens. It closes. It does not ask who is watching.
Thus, if a strange calm arises while gazing at a flower, do not assume enlightenment. It may simply be that the world has paused to see whether you will add another sentence.
If you do not, something may quietly pass by—
and leave you unchanged enough to notice.
