This is part of a series of posts to share my preparation for the Grade 2 Study Exam that I will sit this coming November.
Section A
From ‘Teaching a young disciple the essence of faith’:
A4 - What is the significance of the fifth scroll of the Lotus Sutra with which Nichiren Daishonin was beaten by Sho‐bo? In the Gosho passage describing the fifth scroll, which particular Buddhist principle does Nichiren Daishonin explain that it contains?
The fifth scroll – the one with which Sho‐bo struck Nichiren – has special significance, because it presents the crucial elements involved in propagating the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law – including:
1. the actual proof of attaining Buddhahood in one’s present form;
2. the great persecutions that will be encountered when attempting to spread the sutra;
3. the emergence of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth;
The Daishonin stresses that encountering persecution as a result of propagating the Lotus Sutra means that one is reading the fifth scroll of the Lotus Sutra with one’s life and is on the path to attaining Buddhahood. He points out the importance of ‘committing oneself to the Lotus Sutra and having faith in its teachings’, and of spreading the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra, Nam‐myoho‐renge‐kyo.
Word count: 136
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