Shakyamuni Tathagata, also known as the Buddha, appeared in India approximately 2,500 years ago. Having attained enlightenment, he dedicated his life to teaching the path that frees sentient beings from suffering and distress, offering salvation to all.
Born as a prince of the Shakya clan, Shakyamuni was raised in a life of luxury, shielded from hardship. He eventually married and had a son, yet his encounters with the inevitable sufferings of life—birth, aging, illness, and death—deeply troubled him. Determined to find a way to transcend these fundamental sufferings, he renounced his royal status, left his family, and embarked on a spiritual quest as a monk.
For years, he practiced extreme asceticism, believing that self-mortification was the key to liberation. However, these severe austerities only weakened his body and mind, leading him to abandon them. Instead, he turned to deep meditation, and at the age of 30, while meditating beneath the Bodhi tree, he attained supreme enlightenment. From that moment, he spent the next 50 years traveling and teaching, tirelessly guiding people toward liberation from suffering.
His teachings were later compiled into sutras, each containing wisdom adapted to the capacities, circumstances, and spiritual maturity of his audience. This method, known as “expedient means” (方便, hōben), allowed him to lead people progressively toward the ultimate truth. During the final eight years of his life, Shakyamuni expounded the Lotus Sutra (Myōhō Renge Kyō)—the highest teaching he had kept in his heart from the very beginning.
The Lotus Sutra is unique among his teachings, as it not only provided a direct path to enlightenment for those living in Shakyamuni’s time but also ensured the salvation of future generations. Within this sutra, he revealed his true identity as the Primordial Buddha, an enlightened being who had attained Buddhahood in the unimaginably distant past and has ceaselessly worked to save all beings throughout eternity. The historical Shakyamuni who appeared in India was merely a provisional manifestation of this eternal Buddha, guiding people according to their needs. Though his physical form would eventually pass away, his eternal essence remains ever-present, continuing to lead sentient beings toward enlightenment from the distant past into the infinite future.
As he neared the end of his 80-year life, Shakyamuni entrusted the future propagation of the Dharma to Bodhisattva Jogyo, the foremost of his disciples. To ensure the continued salvation of all beings, he entrusted Odaimoku, the essence of the Lotus Sutra revealed in its eight highest chapters (Honmon Happon), to Jogyo Bosatsu. Among all of Shakyamuni’s teachings, the Lotus Sutra is the ultimate revelation. However, within this supreme teaching, the Daimoku of the Honmon Happon stands as the very “Law of Attaining Buddhahood,” carrying the power to lead all beings to enlightenment in the present and future.
