You keep making the same fallacious argument, that because the eternal Buddha's actual name is NOT the Nichiren Daishonin, it must be Shakyamuni, raised up by you and Nichiren Shu as some Hindu/Shinto God Almighty avatar of Brahma or Vishnu. In fact the actual name of the entity, according to Nichiren Daishonin, is "Myoho-Renge." And all common mortals receive the three bodies at birth, from their parents. See the Gosho quotes below...
__________________________________________________
________ Slanders of the eternal Buddha __________
Once again, that quote from ARBN:
||| "A Nichiren Buddhist priest that I recently met in Japan
||| said that there were around 50 Nikko sects and SGI and
||| Nichiren Shoshu are only 2 of them and there around 500
||| Nichiren Shu sects. I reckon he'd be right by the amount
||| of temples I visited. Some of the Nichiren Shu and Nikko
||| temples had Nichiren placed directly in front of the
||| Gohonzon. The deity's in the temple grounds and inside
||| their temples of the Pure land, Shingon, Shinto and Zen are
||| the same as the deity's we have in our Gohonzons but in 3D
||| up to about 20m in Height ..."
It is unimaginable that people could read the Gosho quote down below and still not understand what Nichiren Daishonin states clearly: the original Buddha is named Myoho-Renge, and not named Shakyamuni, Nichiren Daishonin, anyone or anything else.
The treachery of the Five Senior Priests who founded Nichiren Shu and converted Nichiren Daishonin's practice of Buddhism into a syncretic Shinto statue-worshiping deist faith has now led to this treasonous view by a denizen of ARBN:
||| I have considered the recipients of Nichiren's writings to
||| be a key factor, or rather, an important element regarding
||| the *meaning* conveyed. Nichiren wrote about the Gohonzon
||| to disciples and lay followers whom he had taught for
||| almost two decades; all of whom grasped the doctrines
||| Nichiren himself established for propagating
||| Myoho-renge-kyo in this latter age.
|||
||| Do you, Chas, accept and believe the preceding 18 years of
||| Nichiren's teachings , written to these disciples and lay
||| followers? In those writings I find and provide passages
||| here, to establish that Nichiren himself taught the primacy
||| of the daimoku as " a complete explanation" of the Lotus
||| Sutra, and Shakyamuni as the true, eternal Buddha. Since
||| you have dismissed the basic understanding ALL recipients
||| of Nichiren's writings most certainly had, how can you make
||| any determinations about the *meaning* expressed in the
||| Gosho?
First, let's hear what Nichiren Daishonin says on the subject.
From "The Entity of the Mystic Law", p. 420:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/47#para-30
... Question: The Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai has explained that
... the term Myoho-renge is used in two different senses, one
... meaning the entity of Myoho-renge and the other being
... figurative in meaning. What are these two kinds of renge,
... or lotus?
...
... Answer: The figurative renge, or lotus, is explained in
... detail in the three metaphors of the lotus blossom
... enfolding the seed, the lotus blossom opening to reveal the
... seed inside, and the lotus blossom falling and the
... seed ripening, so one should refer to them. The lotus that
... is the entity of Myoho-renge is explained in the seventh
... volume of The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra as
>> follows: "RENGE, OR LOTUS, IS NOT A SYMBOL; IT IS THE
>> ACTUAL NAME OF THE ENTITY. For example, at the beginning
... of the kalpa of continuance, the various things in the
... world had no names. The sage observed the principles that
... govern them and on that basis made up names for them." He
... also writes: "Now the name renge is not intended as a
... symbol for anything. It is the teaching expounded in the
... Lotus Sutra. The teaching expounded in the Lotus Sutra is
... pure and undefiled and explains the subtleties of cause
... and effect. Therefore, it is called renge, or lotus. This
... name designates the true entity that the meditation based
... on the Lotus Sutra reveals, and is not a metaphor or
... figurative term."
Note the line, Myoho-Renge is "the actual name of the entity," the Entity of the Mystic Law.
"The entity" of the Mystic Law, BTW, is the original Buddha, the Buddha of Limitless Joy, the Buddha of Beginningless Time, the eternal Buddha, the Buddha of the original state, or the true Buddha: these are all the same.
However, "the entity" is clearly not named Shakyamuni Buddha NOR Nichiren Daishonin, in spite of their profound roles in manifesting the enlightenement of the Lotus Sutra, preaching the Lotus Sutra and leading the Kosen Rufu endeavour to spread it widely.
Myoho-Renge is the entity of eternal enlightenment, not named after someone who practiced Brahmanism (Shakyamuni) or Amida Buddhism (Nichiren Daishonin) earlier in their life. These are real people, who emerge from the impurities of the Saha World and attain enlightenment through the Lotus Sutra alone, and no other practice (in fact, in spite of other grievous slanders of the Law.)
We all manifest Myoho-Renge when we chant the daimoku: when we give voice to the eternal truth of the Law. However, all common mortals are two, but not two, both deluded and enlightened: we are the true Buddha.
Myoho-Renge is always pure and true, never off the mark from beginning to end. This is why we don't worship human beings or statues manifesting their visage or the aspect of their impermanence: we would not want to repeat their errors.
One of the errors that neither Shakyamuni nor Nichiren Daishonin are known for is the error of the kind of preening arrogance that would be in any way comfortable with being worshiped like a Hindu god, and certainly not as God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth in some traditionally deifying sense.
Shakyamuni and Nichiren Daishonin must suffer greatly at the slanders of sincere followers misled by the corrupted priests of Nichiren Shu and the Nikko sects as described at the top quote regarding statue worship of them: being hoisted up and placed in front of the Gohonzon.
According to the Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings: the Lotus Sutra in the Parable of the Phantom City chapter identifies the eternal Buddha (the Buddha of Limitless Joy, AKA the Buddha of Beginningless Time) as the grandfather of Shakyamuni, who as one of the sixteen princes, was the son of Great Universal Wisdom Excellence Thus Come One, who was the son of "the grandfather".
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/ott/PART-1/7#para-15
>> The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings says: IN
>> THIS PASSAGE WE LEARN ABOUT THE BUDDHA OF THE ORIGINAL
>> STATE [THAT IS, THE BUDDHA OF LIMITLESS JOY]. "GRANDFATHER"
>> IS ANOTHER NAME FOR THE DHARMA-REALM. The first three of
... the ten factors listed in the "Expedient Means" chapter,
... the factors of appearance, nature, and entity, are referred
... to as "grandfather." Outside of these three factors, there
... is no wheel-turning sage king.
...
... The word "wheel-turning" refers to the phases of birth,
... abiding, change, and extinction. The words "sage king"
... refer to the element of the mind. These three factors,
... appearance, nature, and entity, are the father and mother
... of all the Buddhas of the three existences of past,
... present, and future.
...
... Now, when Nichiren and his followers chant
... Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, they are acting as father and mother
... of the Buddhas of the three existences, as their
... grandfather, the wheel-turning sage king.
The followers of the 5 Senior Priests of Nichiren Shu consider the Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings to ALSO BE FAKED (because its view of Buddhism would disallow statue worship and funeral Buddhism), but once again, the Gosho in many places AND THE CORE OF THE LOTUS SUTRA ITSELF, confirms this view.
That passage refers to this one, the one and only reference to "the grandfather", where his son, who is the father of 16th son Shakyamuni, Great Universal Wisdom Excellence, attains enlightenment when "the Law of the buddhas finally appeared before him". This from the mouth of Shakyamuni Buddha, himself:
The Parable of the Phantom City, LS-7, pp 156-157:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/lsoc/Content/7#para-35
... "Now, monks, THE BUDDHA GREAT UNIVERSAL WISDOM EXCELLENCE
... PASSED TEN SMALL KALPAS BEFORE THE LAW OF THE BUDDHAS
... FINALLY APPEARED BEFORE HIM AND HE ATTAINED SUPREME
... PERFECT ENLIGHTENMENT. Before this buddha left the
... householder's life, he had sixteen sons, the first of whom
... was named Wisdom Accumulated. These sons each had various
... kinds of rare objects and toys of one kind or another, but
... when they heard that their father had attained supreme
... perfect enlightenment, they all threw aside their rare
... objects and went to where the buddha was. Their mothers,
... weeping, followed after them.
...
... "Their grandfather, who was a wheel-turning sage king,
... along with a hundred chief ministers, as well as a
... hundred, thousand, ten thousand, million of his subjects,
... all together surrounded the sons and followed them to the
... place of enlightenment, all wishing to draw close to the
... thus come one Great Universal Wisdom Excellence, to offer
... alms, pay honor, venerate, and praise him. When they
... arrived, they bowed before his feet, touching their heads
... to the ground.
Since the "grandfather" was the father of the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence, who was the father of the 16th son who later became Shakyamuni Buddha, and because the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence attained enlightenment prior to Shakyamuni, this is evidence from the one and only earliest timeline from the Lotus Sutra, that Shakyamuni Buddha was NOT the name of the Buddha of the original state.
In fact, anyone attaining enlightenment on any timeline for the first time cannot be named as the Buddha of the original state, who is enlightened from beginningless time, which is off the end of every timeline and not actually part of any history.
The "grandfather" is anonymous in the Lotus Sutra. The "grandfather" has no time associated with his enlightenment, or assignment of any progenitor and Nichiren Daishonin assigns him as primogenitor in that passage from the Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, as the first: the "Buddha of the original state."
Aside from that, who knows, I don't. As far as I can tell, the eternal Buddha has no other person identified as such in the Lotus Sutra. Shakyamuni attained enlightenment after his father Great Universal Wisdom Excellence and unnamed grandfather with no date for his attainment of the enlightenment.
At any rate, who was first hardly matters, unless you want to worship a statue or image of the first enlightened one. I certainly don't want to worship or pray to any statues of anyone.
I am satisfied that the Buddha leading the army of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth is Nichiren Daishonin, also known as Jogyo Superior Practices. He is the mentor whose Gosho I have made my mentor, because our general, Ikeda Sensei asked me too. I practice as Nichiren Daishonin says and only that way. I worship no person and images of any person.
Continuing, another challenge from a follower of the Nichiren Shu icchantikas/issendai:
||| You, Chas, claim to be practicing Nichiren's teachings- do
||| you not? Then please explain why you cannot believe
||| thousands of passages written in Nichiren's own hand, such
||| as:
|||
||| "Now, when the Eternal Buddha has revealed in the essential
||| section of the Lotus Sutra, this world of endurance
||| (Saha-world) became the Eternal Pure Land, indestructible
||| even by the three calamities of conflagration, flooding,
||| and strong winds, which are said to destroy the world. It
||| transcends the four periods of cosmic change: the kalpa of
||| construction, continuance, destruction and emptiness.
||| Sakaymuni Buddha, the Lord-preacher of this pure and, has
||| never died in the past, nor will He be born in the future.
||| He exists forever throughout the past present and future.
||| All those who receive His GUIDANCE are one with the Eternal
||| Buddha." - Nichiren, "The True Object of Worship".
|||
||| Now, you are interpreting the Lotus Sutra- in an effort to
||| support your SGIkeda's claim that Nichiren, not Shakyamuni
||| is the True, Original Buddha!! By doing this you are also
||| dismissing Nichiren's own statements referencing his
||| identity as the Buddha's envoy, the only one who can
||| understand the "entity of the Lotus"--So, YOU, Chas claim
||| to be --what? the envoy of the Buddha you have demoted?? Or
||| are you just a parrot for SGIkeda's lies??
|||
||| To summarize, I practice Nichiren's Lotus Sutra Buddhism. I
||| regard Nichiren as the ONE teacher for this latter age. I
||| believe the words Nichiren has used to describe himself,
||| Shakyamuni Buddha and the Lotus Sutra--Since, you, Chas do
||| not produce evidence for your assertions from Nichiren's
||| own hand, you are not qualified to call yourself a follower
||| of Nichiren-- in fact, you have clearly shown yourself to
||| be a follower of Ikeda, whose errors have been exposed here
||| and elsewhere , whilst your Top leaders refuse to engage in
||| public debate to settle the matters you continue to parrot
||| here!!
This is yet another bad translation of the Gosho, by corrupted statue-worshiping priests of Nichiren Shu. Note the absence of the term "Eternal Buddha" in the correct translation below, that phrase having been doctored by Nichiren Shu slandering priests in their corrupted translation.
Shakyamuni was of course manifesting Myoho-Renge, his true self and at the highest condition of human existence when he was preaching the Juryo chapter.
But his name was Shakyamuni, not Myoho-Renge, which is "the actual name of the entity" according to Nichiren Daishonin.
From "The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind Established in the Fifth Five-Hundred-Year Period after the Thus Come One's Passing -Nichiren, the shramana of Japan", WND I, p. 366 ... once again, noting the total absence of calling Shakyamuni the "eternal Buddha":
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/39#para-70
... First, at his place of enlightenment, Shakyamuni Buddha
... [preached the Flower Garland Sutra in which he] revealed
... the Lotus Treasury World. In the following fifty years,
... until he entered nirvana in the grove of sal trees,
... Shakyamuni preached about the lands of the various Buddhas,
... such as the Lotus Treasury World and the Land of Secret
... Solemnity [in the Secret Solemnity Sutra], revealed the
... three kinds of lands when he three times purified countless
... lands [in the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra], and
... revealed the four kinds of lands according to the four
... different views [in the Nirvana Sutra]. These lands—the
... Land of Transition, the Land of Actual Reward, and the Land
... of Tranquil Light; the Land of Peace and Sustenance, the
... Pure Emerald World, the Land of Secret Solemnity, and the
... lands of all the other Buddhas—are transient lands that
... change in the course of the kalpas of formation,
... [continuance, decline, and disintegration]. The Buddhas of
... these lands had been magically conjured by Shakyamuni
... Buddha, and when the lord of teachings entered nirvana, all
... these Buddhas likewise entered extinction. In the same way,
... their lands also vanished.
...
... The sahā world Shakyamuni Buddha revealed in the "Life
... Span" chapter is the eternal pure land, impervious to the
... three calamities and to the cycle of the four kalpas. The
... Buddha neither has entered into extinction in the past nor
... will be born in the future. And the same is true of his
... disciples. This means that their lives are perfectly
... endowed with the three thousand worlds, that is, with the
... three realms of existence. The Buddha did not reveal this
... truth in the theoretical teaching, or the first fourteen
... chapters, of the Lotus Sutra because the time was not right
... and the people's capacity was not yet developed.
...
... Shakyamuni Buddha did not transmit the five characters of
... Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the heart of the essential teaching of
... the Lotus Sutra, even to the bodhisattvas Manjushrī and
... Medicine King, let alone to any lesser disciples. He
... summoned from beneath the earth the great bodhisattvas as
... numerous as the dust particles of a thousand worlds and, as
... he preached the eight chapters, transferred it solely to
... them.
Finally, a piece of logic related to time itself, and that logic is irrefutable.
Beginningless time is before any finite point in the past on the timeline, such as when Shakyamuni attained enlightenment. From the Lotus Sutra, chapter 16, starting with the critical phrase "Ga hon gyo bosatsu do":
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/lsoc/Content/16#para-14
... originally I practiced the bodhisattva way,
... and the life span that I acquired then has
... yet to come to an end but will last twice
... the number of years that have already passed.
A finite time in the past, which is half the time of a future point, can not possibly be the locus known as "beginningless time", which is off the timeline. The eternal Buddha's enlightened life crosses before, during and after every point on the timeline, which is why the adjective "eternal" is applied.
Shakyamuni, in his complete honesty, declared that he attained enlightenment under another Buddha and implicitly therefore that Shakyamuni is not the name of the eternal Buddha, as the Nichiren Shu and it's plausibly deniable legion of SGI attackers erroneously believe. You cannot deny what the Lotus Sutra says, Shakyamuni is not the name of the eternal Buddha, anymore than anyone's impermanent name is. That name is Myoho-Renge.
________ Slanders of the common mortal ___________
________ as the true Buddha ______________________
Let's revisit that ARBN quote from the follower of the Nichiren Shu traitorous founders, the Five Senior Priests who converted Nichiren Daishonin's practice of Buddhism into a syncretic Shinto statue-worshiping of Shakyamuni as God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth:
||| I have considered the recipients of Nichiren's writings to
||| be a key factor, or rather, an important element regarding
||| the *meaning* conveyed. Nichiren wrote about the Gohonzon
||| to disciples and lay followers whom he had taught for
||| almost two decades; all of whom grasped the doctrines
||| Nichiren himself established for propagating
||| Myoho-renge-kyo in this latter age.
|||
||| Do you, Chas, accept and believe the preceding 18 years of
||| Nichiren's teachings , written to these disciples and lay
||| followers? In those writings I find and provide passages
||| here, to establish that Nichiren himself taught the primacy
||| of the daimoku as " a complete explanation" of the Lotus
||| Sutra, and Shakyamuni as the true, eternal Buddha. Since
||| you have dismissed the basic understanding ALL recipients
||| of Nichiren's writings most certainly had, how can you make
||| any determinations about the *meaning* expressed in the
||| Gosho?
There are many pillars upholding the difference of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism of the Lotus Sutra from all other Buddhisms, which are then clearly distortions of the Buddha's teachings and intent.
It's also abundantly true that all of Nichiren Daishonin's pillars stand together in perfect logical harmony, without the tiniest weak point in the structure. All of the deviant variants of Buddhism are like horrid collapsing lopsided structures in comparison. They are tents and hastily erected shacks that do not survive even the slight breeze. Let's start with the notion of manifesting Buddhahood in an instant:
From "Wu-lung and I-lung", WND I, p. 1099 (most relevant part highlighted):
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/162#para-1
... Myoho-renge-kyo is likened to the lotus. The great māndāra
... flower in heaven and the cherry blossom in the human world
... are both celebrated flowers, but the Buddha chose neither
... to compare to the Lotus Sutra. Of all the flowers, he
... selected the lotus blossom to symbolize the Lotus Sutra.
... There is a reason for this. Some plants first flower and
... then produce fruit, while in others fruit comes forth
... before flowers. Some bear only one flower but much fruit,
... others send forth many flowers but only one fruit, and
>> still others produce fruit without flowering. THUS THERE
>> ARE ALL MANNER OF PLANTS, BUT THE LOTUS IS THE ONLY ONE
>> THAT BEARS FLOWERS AND FRUIT SIMULTANEOUSLY. THE BENEFIT OF
>> ALL THE OTHER SUTRAS IS UNCERTAIN, BECAUSE THEY TEACH THAT
>> ONE MUST FIRST MAKE GOOD CAUSES AND ONLY THEN CAN ONE
>> BECOME A BUDDHA AT SOME LATER TIME. WITH REGARD TO THE
>> LOTUS SUTRA, WHEN ONE'S HAND TAKES IT UP, THAT HAND
>> IMMEDIATELY ATTAINS BUDDHAHOOD, AND WHEN ONE'S MOUTH CHANTS
>> IT, THAT MOUTH IS ITSELF A BUDDHA, AS, FOR EXAMPLE, THE
>> MOON IS REFLECTED IN THE WATER THE MOMENT IT APPEARS FROM
>> BEHIND THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS, OR AS A SOUND AND ITS ECHO
>> ARISE SIMULTANEOUSLY. IT IS FOR THIS REASON THAT THE SUTRA
>> STATES, "IF THERE ARE THOSE WHO HEAR THE LAW, THEN NOT A
>> ONE WILL FAIL TO ATTAIN BUDDHAHOOD." THIS PASSAGE MEANS
>> THAT, IF THERE ARE A HUNDRED OR A THOUSAND PEOPLE WHO
>> UPHOLD THIS SUTRA, WITHOUT A SINGLE EXCEPTION ALL ONE
>> HUNDRED OR ONE THOUSAND OF THEM WILL BECOME BUDDHAS.
The piece to focus on here is:
"The benefit of all the other sutras is uncertain, because they teach that one must first make good causes and only then can one become a Buddha at some later time. With regard to the Lotus Sutra, when one's hand takes it up, that hand immediately attains Buddhahood, and when one's mouth chants it, that mouth is itself a Buddha"
The only conceivable way that one can attain Buddhahood simultaneously with chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, is if one is already a Buddha, and one only needs to chant the daimoku to manifest that pre-existing and inherited Buddhahood.
As argued clearly in the previous 2nd section on slanders of the true aspect of all phenomena, (1.) the common mortal is the true Buddha and provisional Buddhas are a function of the true Buddha (common mortal), and (2.) all phenomena are the true aspect AND Myoho-Renge-Kyo, precisely because the true aspect means without having the aspect of any specific or particular entity, but is inclusive of all entities.
The view that the provisional Buddhas who appear to save we common mortals are THE Buddha, and that we ARE NOT, is a slander of the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law and it arises from confusing inconspicuous benefit with enlightenment.
Here is Nichiren Daishonin's explanation of the differences in the teachings, and which view the Lotus Sutra takes.
From "The Unanimous Declaration by the Buddhas", WND II, p. 859:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/315#para-185
>> WHEN ONE TURNS TO THE PERFECT TEACHING, however, and sees
... that all phenomena are perfectly fused together, full and
... perfect like the moon on the fifteenth night of the month,
... free of all insufficiency, and when one understands them to
>> the fullest, THEN THERE IS NO MORE JUDGING THEM AS GOOD OR
>> BAD, NO MORE CHOOSING ON THE BASIS OF WHAT IS TIMELY, NO
>> MORE NEED TO SEEK OUT A QUIET SETTING, NO MORE QUESTION OF
>> WHICH PERSONS ARE ELIGIBLE. When one understands that all
... phenomena whatsoever are manifestations of the Buddhist
... Law, then one has fully comprehended the nature of the
... things of the phenomenal realm. Then even if one follows a
... path that is not the way, one will still be fulfilling
... the Buddha way.
...
>> HEAVEN, EARTH, WATER, FIRE, AND WIND ARE THE FIVE WISDOM
>> THUS COME ONES. THEY RESIDE WITHIN THE BODY AND MIND OF ALL
>> LIVING BEINGS AND ARE NEVER SEPARATED FROM THEM EVEN FOR AN
>> INSTANT. THEREFORE WORLDLY AFFAIRS AND AFFAIRS RELATING TO
>> ENLIGHTENMENT BLEND TOGETHER IN HARMONY WITHIN THE MIND OF
>> THE INDIVIDUAL; OUTSIDE OF THE MIND, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO
>> OTHER THING THAT EXISTS. THEREFORE, WHEN ONE HEARS THIS
>> TRUTH, ONE CAN AT THAT POINT IMMEDIATELY ATTAIN THE GOAL OF
>> BUDDHAHOOD WITHOUT A MOMENT'S DELAY, FOR IT IS A PRINCIPLE
>> OF THE UTMOST PROFUNDITY.
To confuse inconspicuous benefit with enlightenment is a slander of the Lotus Sutra, and will cause one to fall into the evil paths.
Inconspicuous benefit grows slowly as one practices, like a great tree.
Being the true Buddha is the heritage of the Law, received from your parents at birth in the form of the three bodies of the Buddha, establishing your true identity as Myoho-Renge, the Entity of the Mystic Law.
You have always been and will always be the true Buddha: to be a living being is to be the true Buddha.
What in heaven's name is so difficult to understand about the common mortal being the true Buddha? It has nothing at all to do with the "original enlightenment" of corrupted Tendai traitors, who just want to sit on their ass and do nothing.
SGI members accept that the enlightenment they attain upon chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo to the Gohonzon means that they have to walk that talk: the characteristics of a Buddha are the characteristics of a Bodhisattva bent on doing Kosen Rufu. Law -> Wisdom -> Action, and the action of shakubuku speaks the loudest: shakubuku manifests your Buddhahood most clearly.
All living beings are Buddhas, endowed with the three Bodies of the Buddha received from their parents.
From "On the Treasure Tower," WND I, pp. 299-300:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/31#para-3
.. YOU, YOURSELF, ARE A THUS COME ONE WHO IS ORIGINALLY
.. ENLIGHTENED AND ENDOWED WITH THE THREE BODIES. You should
.. chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with this conviction. Then the
.. place where you chant daimoku will become the dwelling
.. place of the treasure tower.
He says it plainly right there: "You, yourself, ARE A THUS COME ONE WHO IS ORIGINALLY ENLIGHTENED AND ENDOWED WITH THE THREE BODIES." Nichiren Daishonin is not just being a cheerleader for Abutsu-bo here, he really means it.
From "Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man," WND I, p. 131:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/13#para-202
.. THE BUDDHA NATURE THAT ALL THESE BEINGS POSSESS IS CALLED
.. BY THE NAME MYOHO-RENGE-KYO. THEREFORE, IF YOU RECITE THESE
.. WORDS OF THE DAIMOKU ONCE, THEN THE BUDDHA NATURE OF ALL
.. LIVING BEINGS WILL BE SUMMONED AND GATHER AROUND YOU. AT
.. THAT TIME THE THREE BODIES OF THE DHARMA NATURE WITHIN
.. YOU—THE DHARMA BODY, THE REWARD BODY, AND THE MANIFESTED
.. BODY—WILL BE DRAWN FORTH AND BECOME MANIFEST. THIS IS
.. CALLED ATTAINING BUDDHAHOOD. To illustrate, when a caged
.. bird sings, the many birds flying in the sky all gather
.. around it at once; seeing this, the bird in the cage
.. strives to get out.”
And there he says it again, very clearly, no interpretation required. "... if you recite the words of the daimoku once ... This is called attaining Buddhahood."
From "The Unanimous Declaration by the Buddhas of the Three Existences regarding the Classification of the Teachings and Which Are to Be Abandoned and Which Upheld," WND II, pp. 847-848:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/315#para-105
.. THE SENTIENT BEINGS AND THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE TEN WORLDS
.. ARE THE BUDDHA OF THE DHARMA BODY, ONE WHO POSSESSES THE
.. VIRTUE OF THE THREE BODIES IN A SINGLE ENTITY. Once one has
.. understood this, one will fully realize that all phenomena
.. are the Buddhist Law. This is known as the stage of hearing
.. the name and words of the truth. FROM THE STAGE OF HEARING
.. THE NAME AND WORDS OF THE TRUTH ONE PROCEEDS DIRECTLY TO
.. THE ATTAINMENT OF BUDDHAHOOD IN ONE’S PRESENT FORM. Thus
.. in the teaching of perfect and immediate enlightenment
.. there are no successive stages of practice.
Note the phrase: "From the stage of HEARING THE NAME AND WORDS OF THE TRUTH one proceeds directly to the ATTAINMENT OF BUDDHAHOOD IN ONE’S PRESENT FORM."
From hearing the daimoku -> directly to attaining Buddhahood.
Then he says: "Thus in the teaching of perfect and immediate enlightenment THERE ARE NO SUCCESSIVE STAGES OF PRACTICE."
Thus, there are no extra practices needed to attain Buddhahood.
Enlightenment or Buddhahood is attained by hearing or chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo for the very first time. In that moment you are a participant in the ceremony in the air.
From "The Entity of the Mystic Law," WND I, p. 429:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/47#para-89
.. Therefore, we understand that, once the “Life Span”
.. chapter of the essential teaching had been revealed, ALL
.. THOSE IN THE ASSEMBLY ON EAGLE PEAK BECAME ENLIGHTENED TO
.. THE LOTUS OF THE ENTITY. Those of the two vehicles, the
.. icchantikas, or persons of incorrigible disbelief, and
.. the determinate groups, as well as women and evil men,
.. ALL GAINED AN AWAKENING TO THE LOTUS OF THE ETERNAL BUDDHA.
All living beings are Buddhas, and they all attain Buddhahood/enlightenment in the ceremony in the air, which you participate in, upon any contact with the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra.
From "Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man," WND I, p. 133:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/13#para-217
.. “It is the same way with the practitioners of the Lotus
.. Sutra. THOUGH THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND THE PRINCIPLES OF
.. BUDDHISM AND MAY NOT KNOW THAT THEY ARE SUFFERING FROM
.. DELUSION, IF ONLY THEY HAVE FAITH, THEN WITHOUT A DOUBT
.. THEY WILL BE ABLE TO FREE THEMSELVES simultaneously from
.. the illnesses of the three categories of illusion—illusions
.. of thought and desire, illusions innumerable as particles
.. of dust and sand, and illusions about the true nature of
.. existence. THEY WILL REACH THE LANDS OF ACTUAL REWARD AND
.. TRANQUIL LIGHT, AND CAUSE THE THREE BODIES OF A THUS COME
.. ONE THAT THEY INHERENTLY POSSESS TO SHINE.
In Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo IS EQUAL TO FAITH, chanting it and even hearing it is attaining enlightenment and manifesting your inherent Buddhahood.
From "The Teaching, Practice, and Proof," WND I, p. 470:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/57#para-20
.. People may well wonder what this revelation means. Explain
.. that it teaches that COMMON PEOPLE LIKE OURSELVES, who have
.. been submerged in the sufferings of birth and death since
.. time without beginning and who never so much as dreamed of
.. reaching the shore of enlightenment, BECOME THE THUS COME
.. ONES WHO ARE ORIGINALLY ENLIGHTENED AND ENDOWED WITH THE
.. THREE BODIES.
And that means through the revelation (hearing the daimoku, chanting it) of the Lotus Sutra itself, we common people become the Thus Come Ones (plural,) not through some Bodhisattva path. We perform as Bodhisattvas, BECAUSE WE HAVE ATTAINED BUDDHAHOOD THROUGH CHANTING NAM_MYOHO_RENGE_KYO TO THE GOHONZON.
From "The One Essential Phrase," WND I, p. 922:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/121#para-1
.. SINCE THE LOTUS SUTRA DEFINES OUR BODY AS THE DHARMA BODY
.. OF A THUS COME ONE, OUR MIND AS THE REWARD BODY OF A THUS
.. COME ONE, AND OUR ACTIONS AS THE MANIFESTED BODY OF A THUS
.. COME ONE, ALL WHO UPHOLD AND BELIEVE IN EVEN A SINGLE
.. PHRASE OR VERSE OF THIS SUTRA WILL BE ENDOWED WITH THE
.. BENEFITS OF THESE THREE BODIES. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is only
.. one phrase or verse, but it is no ordinary phrase, for it
.. is the essence of the entire sutra. YOU ASKED WHETHER ONE
.. CAN ATTAIN BUDDHAHOOD ONLY BY CHANTING NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO,
.. AND THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION OF ALL. THIS IS THE
.. HEART OF THE ENTIRE SUTRA AND THE SUBSTANCE OF ITS EIGHT
.. VOLUMES.
Just by chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, we can attain Buddhahood. He doesn't say how long we have to chant, because it happens immediately.
From "The Entity of the Mystic Law," WND I, p. 420:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/47#para-29
.. IN ESSENCE, THE ENTITY OF MYOHO-RENGE-KYO IS THE PHYSICAL
.. BODY THAT THE DISCIPLES AND FOLLOWERS OF NICHIREN WHO
.. BELIEVE IN THE LOTUS SUTRA RECEIVED FROM THEIR FATHERS AND
.. MOTHERS AT BIRTH. Such persons, WHO HONESTLY DISCARD
.. EXPEDIENT MEANS, PUT FAITH IN THE LOTUS SUTRA ALONE, AND
.. CHANT NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO, WILL TRANSFORM THE THREE PATHS
.. OF EARTHLY DESIRES, KARMA, AND SUFFERING INTO THE THREE
.. VIRTUES OF THE DHARMA BODY, WISDOM, AND EMANCIPATION. The
.. threefold contemplation and the three truths will
.. immediately become manifest in their minds, and the place
.. where they live will become the Land of Eternally Tranquil
.. Light. The Buddha who is the entity of Myoho-renge-kyo, of
.. the “Life Span” chapter of the essential teaching, who is
.. both inhabiting subject and inhabited realm, life and
.. environment, body and mind, entity and function, THE BUDDHA
.. ETERNALLY ENDOWED WITH THE THREE BODIES—HE IS TO BE FOUND
.. IN THE DISCIPLES AND LAY BELIEVERS OF NICHIREN.
Notice the qualifying phrase:
"Such persons, WHO HONESTLY DISCARD EXPEDIENT MEANS, put faith in the Lotus Sutra alone, and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, will transform the three paths of earthly desires, karma, and suffering into the three virtues of the Dharma body, wisdom, and emancipation."
You have to "honestly discard expediant means" to gain the benefits of the three bodies: you can't worship statues, practice the four dictums (Zen, Nembutsu, Tantric/True Word, Shakyamuni's provisional precepts), join with Shinto, or chant to pirated printouts of Gohonzon stolen by traitorous, thieving, murderous priests of Nichiren Shu, who betrayed Nichiren Daishonin by distorting his Buddhism into a statue-worshiping Shinto cult forcing Shakyamuni into the role of God Almighty, which he would have rejected as utterly narcissistic. That slander of complicity cancels your benefits of the three bodies.
From "The Doctrine of Three Thousand Realms in a Single Moment of Life," WND II, p. 87:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/180#para-43
.. THIS MYOHO-RENGE-KYO IS A TERM DESIGNATING THE ESSENTIAL
.. NATURE OF OUR MINDS, OR, MORE GENERALLY SPEAKING, THE
.. ESSENTIAL NATURE OF THE MINDS OF ALL LIVING BEINGS, THE
.. EIGHT-PETALED WHITE LOTUS BLOSSOM. THE WORDS OF THE BUDDHA
.. HIMSELF TEACH US THIS. From time without beginning until
.. the present, these bodies of ours have transmigrated
.. through the realm of birth and death, in a state of
.. delusion as to the essential nature of the mind that is
.. within these bodies. BUT NOW THAT WE HAVE ENCOUNTERED THE
.. LOTUS SUTRA AND CHANT THE DAIMOKU THAT REPRESENTS THE THUS
.. COME ONE OF ORIGINAL ENLIGHTENMENT, WHO POSSESSES THE THREE
.. BODIES IN A SINGLE BODY, THE THUS COME ONE BECOMES
.. MANIFEST. In our present existence we achieve the inner
.. realization and attainment of Buddhahood that is known as
.. the attainment of Buddhahood in our present form.
Once again, he states it clearly and without any amount of chanting or time passage: our Buddhahood "becomes manifest" at the point when we "have encountered the Lotus Sutra and chanted the daimoku."
You have always been and will always be the true Buddha: to be a living being is to be the true Buddha.
-Chas.