On the Lotus and Nembutsu Being of the Same Essence with Different Names

[4:351] The "five flavours" (gomi) are milk (nyū), cream (raku), raw butter (shōso), clarified butter (jukuso), and ghee (daigo).

Among these, ghee is considered the supreme flavour. It is used as a metaphor for the Lotus Sūtra, which is regarded as the ultimate intent for the Buddha’s appearance in the world.

However, Jōdo Shinshū is determined to be a teaching of the same flavour as the Lotus Sūtra. Therefore, Jōdo Shinshū likewise reflects the Buddha’s ultimate intent for appearing in the world.

This principle is vividly evident in the narrative features of the Larger Sūtra of Immeasurable Life (first fascicle) among the Three Pure Land Sūtras. Specifically, that sūtra states:

“At that moment, the Bhagavān, his faculties joyful and serene, had a pure complexion and a radiant face that was majestic.”

This serves as direct textual evidence. Thus, the Lotus and nembutsu are clearly teachings of identical flavour. That is, they are the same essence under different names. Both are teachings of the ghee flavour. This principle appears in the Collection of Passages on the Nembutsu Chosen in the Original Vow (Senjaku Hongan Nembutsu Shū; SSZ 1:1305–6).

The Lotus Sūtra was expounded over eight years. During that same period of teaching, prompted by the occurrence of the five grave offences in the royal palace of King Bimbisāra, Śākyamuni Buddha responded to Vaidehī's pleaVaidehī. Leaving his assembly on Mount Vulture Peak, he descended to the Royal Palace with two sages, Ānanda and Maudgalyāyana, as his attendants, and immediately delivered a teaching for the Lady, titled The Sūtra on the Contemplation of the Buddha of Infinite Life.

Because it was expounded at the same time as the Lotus Sūtra, it is said to be a teaching of the same ghee flavour. Thus it should be known.

Translator's Notes

This text was written by Kakunyo Shōnin (1270–1351). The title Shusse Gen’i refers to the main purpose for which Shakyamuni Buddha appeared in this world. The ideas found within this text are referenced in the Kudensho, and the title Shusse Gen’i was in use by Rennyo’s time. The exact date of this text is unknown.

The text responds to ideas prevalent in the Tendai school, which suggest that teaching the Lotus Sūtra was the “original intent” of Śākyamuni’s “coming into the world.” Kakunyo rather suggests that the teachings of the Lotus Sūtra and nembutsu are essentially the same, even though they have different names. That is, they are of the “same flavour” and the “same time.”

To say that they are of the “same flavour” comes from the “five flavours” taught in the Tendai school, which divides Śākyamuni’s teachings into five periods, comparing them to the process of turning milk into richer dairy products:

• 1. Milk: Avataṃsaka period

• 2. Cream: Āgama / Deer Park period

• 3. Raw butter: Vaipulya period

• 4. Clarified butter: Prajñā period

• 5. Ghee (supreme): Lotus and Nirvāṇa period

The ghee flavour is considered the best and symbolises the Lotus Sūtra and Nirvāṇa Sūtra in the Tendai school. However, Kakunyo argues that Jōdo Shinshū has the same “flavour” as the Lotus, making it also the true intent of the Buddha’s teachings. Kakunyo supports this by citing the Larger Sūtra to show that the Lotus and nembutsu teachings share the same essence of being the reason for Śākyamuni’s advent. This idea also appears in Hōnen’s Senjaku Shū.

The idea of the “same time” means both the Lotus and nembutsu teachings were given during the same period at the end of Śākyamuni’s life. In particular, he suggests that the Lotus was taught over eight years (a claim by Tendai) and that the events of the Contemplation Sūtra fit within the same period; therefore, temporal arguments for definitiveness must concede the nembutsu teachings' temporal finality. Kakunyo's son, Zonkaku, extended and discussed the same argument in more detail in works such as the Notes on Knowledge of Determination.