Gosho 観心本尊抄 The True Object of Worship 14

又本門に於て序(じょ)正(しょう)流(る)通(つう)有り

The essential teaching [contained in the depths of the “Life Span” chapter] also has its preparation, revelation, and transmission.

In the essential teaching [when viewed from the depths of the Life Span chapter] there are three divisions: preparation, revelation, and transmission.

過去大通(だいつう)仏(ぶつ)の法華経より乃至現在の華(け)厳(ごん)経乃至迹門十四品涅(ね)槃(はん)経等の一代五十余年の諸経・十方三世諸仏の微(み)塵(じん)の経経は皆(みな)寿量の序分なり

Shakyamuni Buddha preached the Lotus Sutra in the past as the sixteenth son of the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence. When he appeared in his present life [in India], he also preached teachings for some fifty years, from the Flower Garland Sutra to the fourteen chapters of the theoretical teaching [of the Lotus Sutra] and the Nirvana Sutra. All these sutras as well as the countless sutras of the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three existences are preparation for revealing [the heart of] the “Life Span” chapter.

The Lotus Sutra expounded by Great Universal Wisdom Buddha, the various sutras that Shakyamuni Buddha preached for over fifty years during his lifetime, including the Flower Garland Sutra, the 14 chapters of the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra, and Nirvana Sutra, as well as the sutras as innumerable as dust particles taught by the various Buddhas of the ten directions throughout the three existences----all these teachings constitute the preparation division of the Life Span chapter of the Lotus Sutra.


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