Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings
Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, The
御義口伝 (Jpn Ongi-kuden)
Nichiren's oral teachings on the Lotus Sutra, recorded and compiled by his disciple and successor Nikko. At Minobu in Kai Province, Japan, Nichiren gave a series of lectures for his disciples on important sentences and phrases from the Lotus Sutra. This work, dated the first month of 1278, consists of two parts and reveals the essential principles of Nichiren's teachings. When explaining the meaning of a passage of the sutra, he cited as references the major works of T'ient'ai and Miao-lo; he then interpreted the passage to clarify essential tenets of his teaching. The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings begins with a lecture on the meaning of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and then proceeds through each of the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra as well as the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra and the Universal Worthy Sutra. It concludes with two separate lectures: "The Essential Passage in Each of the Twenty-eight Chapters of the Lotus Sutra" and "All the Twenty-eight Chapters of the Lotus Sutra Are Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."
