‘I and My Disciples’—Attaining Buddhahood Through Steadfast Faith at the Crucial Moment

The kind of faith indicated here is a deep confidence in the existence of the Buddha nature in our own lives and those of others. This is extremely important. At the same time, and equally crucial, it refers to steadfast faith that remains unwavering no matter what happens, and strong faith that will not be defeated by devilish functions. Whether we can attain Buddhahood hinges on the strength of our faith.

“The Opening of the Eyes” contains the following famous passage, which explains the profound principle that faith leads directly to enlightenment: “Although I and my disciples may encounter various difficulties, if we do not harbor doubts in our hearts, we will as a matter of course attain Buddhahood. Do not have doubts simply because heaven does not lend you protection. Do not be discouraged because you do not enjoy an easy and secure existence in this life. This is what I have taught my disciples morning and evening, and yet they begin to harbor doubts and abandon their faith. 

“Foolish men are likely to forget the promises they have made when the crucial moment comes” (WND-1, 283).

No matter what painful trials we encounter, we must not harbor doubts in our hearts. Nor should we be discouraged or succumb to complaint if we don’t enjoy the protection of the heavenly deities or an easy and secure existence in this life. Those who maintain faith with such a nonregressing spirit are true winners. This is one of Nichiren’s most important points of guidance, illuminating the very heart of faith; it is an eternal guideline.

In this chapter, we will focus mainly on the above passage and discuss the true essence of faith in Nichiren Buddhism.

The Heart of the Mentor-Disciple Relationship

At the beginning of this passage, Nichiren Daishonin addresses himself and his followers, writing, “I and my disciples …” (WND-1, 283).

As we have seen so far in “The Opening of the Eyes,” the Daishonin indicates that he is: 1) the true votary of the Lotus Sutra, who battles the fundamental evil of slander of the Law; 2) the pillar of Japan, who forestalls the loss of the correct teaching and the ruin of the nation; and 3) the Buddha of the Latter Day, who illuminates the darkness of the age long into the distant future by revealing the supreme Law for the enlightenment of all people.

Ready to brave all consequences, he declares his resolve: “This I will state. Let the gods forsake me. Let all persecutions assail me. Still I will give my life for the sake of the Law” (WND-1, 280). Then, with an indomitable lion’s roar, he makes the powerful pledge: “I will be the pillar of Japan. I will be the eyes of Japan. I will be the great ship of Japan. This is my vow, and I will never forsake it!” (WND-1, 280–81). Here, he reveals the core of his own spirit. 

While these passages constitute declarations of his personal resolve and commitment, the intent of the passage “I and my disciples …” (WND-1, 283) is clearly to underscore the importance of having faith that responds to the spirit of the mentor, the Daishonin. It is as if he were saying: “Follow my example! Cast aside your doubts and laments as befits cubs of the lion king! Don’t foolishly discard your faith at the crucial moment!”

The Daishonin indicates that his true disciples are those who, sharing his resolve, stand up to struggle alongside him and work energetically for kosen-rufu. All who become genuine “disciples of Nichiren” (see “The True Aspect of All Phenomena,” WND-1, 385) by making his spirit and commitment their own—no matter who they are—have in fact already opened wide the path to attaining Buddhahood. And, as long as they follow this path to the end, they will attain Buddhahood “as a matter of course” (WND-1, 283).

The ultimate teaching expounded by all Buddhas reveals that all living beings possess the life state of Buddhahood. The Lotus Sutra also clearly states that Buddhas fulfill the purpose of their appearance in the world by opening for all living beings the door to the Buddha wisdom lying dormant in their lives, showing it to them, causing them to awaken to it and guiding them to enter its path (see The Lotus Sutra and Its Opening and Closing Sutras, p. 65)^[1]—in other words, enabling all to attain enlightenment. The essence of this ultimate teaching of the Buddhas is to help everyone actualize the same great enlightenment that they have achieved. That is why Buddhism is at all times concerned with raising disciples who will exert themselves in faith and practice with the same spirit as the mentor. Buddhism is none other than a philosophy of mentor and disciple.

And the spirit of this philosophy of mentor and disciple truly comes to life only when the disciples’ hearts blaze with the same bright spiritual flame evinced by Nichiren, who proclaimed: “Let the gods forsake me. Let all persecutions assail me. Still I will give my life for the sake of the Law” (WND-1, 280).

 In that sense, the Daishonin’s focus on “I and my disciples” in this passage can also be read as a call for the emergence of ranks of capable successors who will continue his struggle.

Selfless Dedication Is the Essence of the Mentor-Disciple Bond

Every time I read this passage, the expression “I and my disciples” stands out vividly with a golden brilliance.

Often, religious leaders address or direct their followers in a unilateral manner, uttering only, “My disciples …” But Nichiren says, “I and my disciples …” Including himself in his instructions to his disciples exemplifies an attitude imbued with the Buddhist spirit of unity of mentor and disciple.

And the backbone of this relationship is the spirit of “not begrudging one’s life,” or unselfish dedication. Because the mentor, Nichiren Daishonin, does not begrudge his own life in propagating the Law, he is qualified to be a leader of the people who opens the path of Buddhism to all. Similarly, in order for his disciples to spread the Law in their capacity as disciples, they must actively struggle for that cause with the same selfless dedication as their mentor.

Nichiren teaches this in the following passage: “Some of them feel pity for their wives and children and grieve at the thought of parting from them in this life. In countless births throughout many long kalpas they have had wives and children but parted from them in every existence. They have done so unwillingly and not because of their desire to pursue the way of the Buddha. Since they must part with them in any case, they should remain faithful to their belief in the Lotus Sutra and make their way to Eagle Peak, so that they may lead their wives and children there as well” (WND-1, 283).

The Daishonin made this statement while undergoing life-threatening persecution. Looking at more recent times, during World War II the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai (Value-Creating Education Society, forerunner of the Soka Gakkai)^[2]

suffered persecution at the hands of the Japanese militarist authorities. The Soka Gakkai’s top leaders were arrested and imprisoned. All of them except Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda, the first and second presidents, caved in to government pressure and turned their backs on the Daishonin’s admonition by abandoning their faith.

While in prison, Mr. Toda wrote in a letter to his family: “Do not doubt that the heavenly deities, the Buddhas and the Buddhist gods will protect you. They will! Don’t lament that you do not enjoy ease and security in this life.” His words embody the essence of “The Opening of the Eyes.”

How should we live out our lives as human beings and Buddhists? Let us always remember that it is only through faith—through dedicating ourselves to the supreme Law and striving for Buddhism with a selfless, ungrudging spirit—that we can truly forge our lives and establish the indestructible state of Buddhahood.

Gaining Buddhahood Without Seeking It

In the passage cited at the beginning, Nichiren Daishonin says that even if we face many difficulties, as long as we persevere undefeated and remain steadfast in our faith, then the benefit of attaining Buddhahood will naturally come to us of itself. This is termed “gaining Buddhahood without seeking it.”^[3]

Why can we attain Buddhahood even if we do not seek it? First, it is because the lives of all living beings are inherently entities of Myoho-renge-kyo (the Mystic Law). And second, it is because our strong faith causes the limitless functions of Myoho-renge-kyo that reside within our lives to manifest without impediment. When Myoho-renge-kyo comes to function freely in our lives, we attain the life state of Buddhahood. The Mystic Law’s infinite power then operates unhindered and expresses itself as various human powers or capacities. These include, for example, the courage to stand up alone, the strength to persevere, the wisdom to surmount adversity, and concern and compassion for others. Qualities such as these, described in the sutra as attributes of the Buddha’s life, manifest in appropriate form as needed. To reiterate, attaining Buddhahood means being able to freely call forth the power of the Mystic Law from our lives in the form of various human powers or capacities. 

It is important to be aware that what prevents the power of the Mystic Law from manifesting in our lives is actually the fundamental illusion or darkness that resides within us—in other words, it means a profound ignorance of the Mystic Law. This ignorance causes people to be lost, deluded and ruled by negative impulses; it is the root cause of all unhappiness and suffering.

Accordingly, when we become awakened to the Mystic Law, this delusion or darkness instantly vanishes. The Mystic Law, then, is like the sun, while delusion is like dark clouds obstructing it. When the dark clouds clear, bright sunshine streams down. When we break through fundamental darkness, the power of the Mystic Law is immediately activated and manifests as various kinds of benefit and value-creative functions. Such diverse benefit and value derive from the workings of the “Law of the renge, or lotus” (“The Entity of the Mystic Law,” WND-1, 425)—the principle of the “simultaneity of cause and effect.”

Therefore, while it is true that all living beings are entities of the Mystic Law whose lives are inherently endowed with the state of Buddhahood, unless we strive in earnest to dispel the obstructing clouds of fundamental ignorance, the world of Buddhahood will not actually manifest in our lives. It is not something we can hope to achieve if we are halfhearted, simply going through the motions of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Much less will it be achieved by having priests chant for us instead! It is up to each person who chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to wage an individual struggle to dispel the darkness in their lives. Because this darkness arises from our inner delusion, the struggle to defeat it must be waged within. In short, this struggle means persevering in faith.

Based on the Lotus Sutra, which reveals the Buddha’s enlightenment, the Daishonin discovered the workings of the fundamental Law of Myoho-renge-kyo in his own life; he then went on to confirm and prove its power through his own life struggles. For us to freely manifest the workings of the Law in our own lives, we need to chant with the same mind and attitude as the Daishonin. In other words, our chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—the daimoku—must be based on faith, the spirit to battle fundamental ignorance. The daimoku that the Daishonin spread could be described as “fighting daimoku.”

Fundamental ignorance manifests in various forms—as doubt, anxiety, earthly desires and so on. The power to break through fundamental ignorance is none other than faith or belief. The Daishonin says, “Belief means to be without doubt” (The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, p. 54).^[4] He also states, “The single word ‘belief’ is the sharp sword with which one confronts and overcomes fundamental darkness or ignorance” (OTT, 119–20). Battling devilish functions and confronting the various difficulties of life must essentially be an intense struggle against our illusion. We use the sharp sword of belief against the devilish forces that obstruct kosen-rufu.

If we should lose our faith or belief in the Mystic Law—that is to say, if we lose the conviction that we can definitely become happy and attain Buddhahood, and if we lose the desire to accomplish kosen-rufu without fail—then we will also be defeated by hardships, obstacles and devilish functions on the path to kosen-rufu.

In “The Opening of the Eyes,” the Daishonin says we must not succumb to doubt and pessimism, both of which are manifestations of fundamental ignorance. A clear illustration of faith conquering illusion is provided by the Nirvana Sutra’s parable of the poor woman who gives up her life to protect her child,^[5] which Nichiren cites in this treatise.

The Parable of the Poor Woman in the Nirvana Sutra

The Nirvana Sutra states: “She [the poor woman] has no house to live in and no one to aid or protect her, and in addition she is beset by illness, hunger, and thirst; she wanders through various places, begging for a living. While staying at an inn, she gives birth to a baby, but the master of the inn drives her away. Though the baby has just been born, she takes it up in her arms and sets out, hoping to journey to another land. But along the way, she encounters fierce wind and rain, and she is troubled by cold and bitten by mosquitoes, gadflies, hornets, and poisonous insects. Coming at length to the Ganges River, she clasps her child in her arms and begins to cross it. Although the current is very swift, she will not let go of her child, and in the end both mother and child are drowned. But through the merit that the woman gained by her loving tenderness, she is reborn after her death in the Brahma heaven^[6]” (WND-1, 282).

The parable teaches that the poor woman could transform her state of life through her strong compassion to try to protect her child even at the cost of her own life.

To us today, the mother’s predicament and the fate of her and her child may seem sad and tragic, especially since Buddhism exists to enable all mothers and children to become happy. Moreover, from our perspective as practitioners of the Mystic Law, attaining Buddhahood and establishing a state of absolute happiness are assured to us in this lifetime. In that sense, this Nirvana Sutra parable reflects several basic assumptions that differ from the perspective of Nichiren Buddhism. Why then does the Daishonin cite this tale in “The Opening of the Eyes”? Likely, it’s because of the vital message contained in Shakyamuni’s concluding remarks.

Shakyamuni guides his disciples, telling them in effect that they must defend the correct teaching as resolutely and selflessly as this mother protected her child (see WND-1, 282). The message is that the path to attaining Buddhahood lies in faith committed to steadfastly protecting the Law, no matter what—in other words, the selfless spirit of faith of “not begrudging one’s life” and of “caring nothing for one’s own life” taught in the Lotus Sutra (see LSOC, 229–33). In terms of our practice, however, “not begrudging or caring for one’s life” does not mean throwing away our lives; it means thoroughly dedicating ourselves to the Law.

The ‘Jewel’ of Three Thousand Realms in a Single Moment of Life

In this writing, Nichiren Daishonin succinctly describes the principle of attaining Buddhahood conveyed through this parable of the poor woman as the “jewel that is the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life” (WND-1, 283).

Let’s briefly go over the main points of the Daishonin’s explanation in “The Opening of the Eyes.” He sums up the essential message of this parable as follows: “In the end it is nothing other than the loving kindness with which the woman cares for her child that makes the difference. Her concern concentrates on one thing just like the Buddhist practice of concentration. She thinks of nothing but her child, which is similar to Buddhist compassion. That must be why, although she created no other causes to bring it about, she was reborn in the Brahma heaven” (WND-1, 283).

Why is the poor woman reborn in the Brahma heaven without seeking it? Nichiren offers two explanations. First, it is because her “concentrating on one thing” is similar to the Buddhist practice of concentration. Second, it is because her “thinking of nothing but her child” is comparable to Buddhist compassion.

“Concentrating on one thing” means focusing one’s mind on a single objective. The ultimate expression of this is the practice of “exhausting the pains and trials of millions of kalpas in a single moment of life” (see OTT, 214). When we practice with such concentrated effort, we can manifest the limitless life state of the Buddha eternally endowed with the three bodies.^[7]

The Daishonin says that the doctrines for attaining Buddhahood expounded in various other sutras and schools—such as the Flower Garland doctrine of the phenomenal world as created by the mind alone, the eight negations of the Three Treatises school, the Consciousness-Only doctrine of the Dharma Characteristics school and the True Word school’s meditation on five elements of the universe—are not “jewels” but merely “yellow stones,”^[8] and that one cannot attain enlightenment by these means. He explains that the path to Buddhahood is only the Lotus Sutra’s “jewel that is the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life” (see WND-1, 283).

Here, on one level, the “jewel that is the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life” may be taken to indicate the condition of simultaneity of cause and effect that we can realize through our concentrated prayer, or mind of faith. It is a condition in which the other nine of the Ten Worlds (cause) and the world of Buddhahood (effect) exist simultaneously in a single moment of life. The Daishonin likens such a state to a “jewel” because it embodies the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds and three thousand realms and shines with beautiful gemlike brilliance. The essence of such a state of life is simply strong faith in Myoho-renge-kyo (the Mystic Law). Our concentrated prayer manifests as a jewel that contains Buddhahood.

In some instances, the doctrines for attaining Buddhahood put forward by various other sutras and advanced by different schools are little more than simple ways of viewing the world and are limited to shallow self-affirmations. In other instances, they teach the importance of extinguishing delusions but are similar to the Hinayana teaching of eradicating earthly desires by “reducing the body to ashes and annihilating consciousness.”^[9] In either case, although they may appear similar, these doctrines are completely different from the “jewel that is the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life.”

Nichiren concludes his discussion of the parable by citing once more the Nirvana Sutra passage, “Although they do not seek emancipation, emancipation will come of itself ” (WND-1, 283). In other words, one naturally arrives at enlightenment even without seeking it.

Never Forget To Challenge Fundamental Ignorance ‘at the Crucial Moment’

As Nichiren Daishonin indicates when he says, “If we do not harbor doubts in our hearts, we will as a matter of course attain Buddhahood” (WND-1, 283), we can only break through the darkness of doubt and pessimism and bring forth the power of Myoho-renge-kyo (the Mystic Law) in our lives through resolute faith.

Fundamental ignorance, however, is also stubbornly powerful and deep-rooted. At the precise moment we need to battle illusion, it creeps into our hearts and invades our lives. The Daishonin admonishes against the folly of allowing this to happen, saying, “Foolish men are likely to forget the promises they have made when the crucial moment comes” (WND-1, 283).

To harbor doubt and disbelief and turn away from the correct teaching at the very time we should arouse strong faith is foolish indeed. The Daishonin’s words seem to ring with the impassioned cry “This is a chance to make great causes for attaining Buddhahood! Everlasting happiness lies on the other side of this momentous challenge!”

No matter what happens, we must not give in to doubt, we must not be discouraged. Those who possess such a robust spirit will not fear anything.

There have been many instances in the history of the Soka Gakkai when we have faced enormous obstacles—such as when founding Soka Gakkai President Tsunesaburo Makiguchi was imprisoned during the war, when President Toda’s business enterprises fell into dire straits in the postwar period, and when we were attacked by the three powerful enemies embodied by the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood and others. Our true worth and mettle as disciples and practitioners of Nichiren Buddhism are revealed in what we do and how we act at such times.

We absolutely must never forget that Buddhahood shines in the faith of those who fight steadfastly at the crucial moment. This is one of the principal conclusions of “The Opening of the Eyes.”

From the October 2025 Living Buddhism