GOSHO 撰時抄 Selection of Times

彼(か)の白法隠没の次には法華経の肝心たる南無妙法蓮華経の大白法の一閻浮提の内・八万の国あり、其の国国に八万の王あり、王王ごとに臣下並びに万民までも今日本国に弥陀(みだ)称名(しょうみょう)を四衆の口口に唱うるがごとく、広宣(こうせん)流布(るふ)せさせ給うべきなり。

　But after the pure Law is obscured and lost, the great pure Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the heart and core of the Lotus Sutra, will surely Kosen Ruhu [spread and be widely declared ] throughout the land of Jambudvīpa—with its eighty thousand kingdoms, their eighty thousand rulers, and the ministers and people in the domain of each ruler—just as the name of Amida is now chanted by the mouths of the priests, nuns, laymen, and laywomen in Japan.

　The time when ”The pure Law will become obscured and lost,”　at stated in the Sutra of the great Assembly (Daishik-kyo), is the fifth Five-hundred-year period. There is no doubt that now is that time. However, after Shakyamuni’s pure Law becomes obscured and lost, it is time for kōsen-ruhu, when the great pure Law of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, the essence of the Lotus Sutra, must be propagated to all the people throughout Jambudvipa, with its 80,000 countries and kings, together with their retainers and subjects. [They must chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo], just as the four kinds of believers in present-day japan are chanting the name of Amida.

問うて云く其(そ)の証文如何、

Question: What passages can you cite to prove this?

答えて云く法華経の第七に云く「我が滅度の後、後の五百歳の中に広宣流布して閻浮提(えんぶだい)に於て断絶せしむること無けん」等云云、

Answer: The seventh volume of the Lotus Sutra says,“After I have passed into extinction, in the last five-hundred-year period you must Kosen Rufu [spread it abroad widely ] throughout Jambudvīpa] and never allow it to be cut off.”

経文は大集経の白法隠没の次の時をとかせ給うに広宣流布と云云。

This indicates that to Kosen Ruhu [spread it abroad widely] will be accomplished in the time after “the pure Law becomes obscured and lost,” as the Great Collection Sutra puts it.

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