The Bodhisattvas
of the Earth

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Who, then, are the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, who appear in the ‘Emerging from the Earth’ (fifteenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra?  They pre-date the disciples Shakyamuni had when he was the sixteenth son of the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence, because when they appear Shakyamuni Buddha declares that ‘Ever since the long distant past/I have been teaching and converting this multitude.’  This declaration stuns the assembly that has gathered to hear him preaching, since they had previously believed that Shakyamuni Buddha had become enlightened only some forty years earlier, and their questions prompt him to expound the ‘Life Span of the Thus Come One’ (sixteenth) chapter.   

As Nichiren Daishonin explains in ‘The True Object of Worship’, however, this chapter is taught not to reassure the listeners in the assembly, but those who hear the Buddha’s teaching after his death.  As Bodhisattva Maitreya says, ‘for the sake of future ages we beg the Buddha/To explain and bring about understanding.’ 

This is a crucial point, for, as Nichiren Daishonin goes on to explain, this means that the parable of the excellent physician, which is related in this chapter, is also told ‘for the sake of future ages’.  Specifically, he says,  ‘According to the “Distinctions in Benefit” chapter, [the good medicine of the “Life Span” chapter is left for those] “in the evil age of the Latter Day of the Law”’,  while the messenger mentioned in the parable refers to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth who will appear in the beginning of the Latter Day.  He further explains that ‘“This good medicine” is the heart of the ‘Life Span’ chapter, or Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.’ In a specific sense, therefore, the Bodhisattvas of the Earth refers to Nichiren Daishonin, whose mission it was to gives the teaching for this age.  As he states: 

At this time the countless Bodhisattvas of the Earth will appear and establish in this country the object of devotion, foremost in Jambudvipa, that depicts Shakyamuni Buddha of the essential teaching attending [the eternal Buddha]. 

In a more general sense, though, the term ‘Bodhisattvas of the Earth’ refers to the Daishonin’s disciples, who work to spread his teaching in the Latter Day.  He makes this point in another important Gosho he wrote while on Sado, ‘The True Aspect of All Phenomena’: 

Now, no matter what, strive in faith and be known as a votary of the Lotus Sutra, and remain my disciple for the rest of your life.  If you are of the same mind as Nichiren, you must be a Bodhisattva of the Earth.  And if you are a Bodhisattva of the Earth, there is not the slightest doubt that you have been a disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha from the remote past. 

In conclusion, then, Nichiren Daishonin uses the Lotus Sutra to validate Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the essential law of life and the Gohonzon as the object of worship of the Latter Day; to establish his identity as the true Buddha of this age, and to identify his followers as the Bodhisattvas of the Earth.  

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