great pure Law ［大白法］ ( daibyakuhō): In Nichiren’s (1222–1282) teaching, the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nichiren uses this term in his writings to indicate the ultimate Law implied in the “Life Span” (sixteenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, in contrast with the pure Law, or Shakyamuni’s teachings. To illustrate, Nichiren writes in The Selection of the Time: “There is no doubt that our present age corresponds to the fifth five-hundred-year period described in the Great Collection Sutra, when ‘the pure Law will become obscured and lost.’ But after the pure Law is obscured and lost, the great pure Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the heart and core of the Lotus Sutra, will surely spread and be widely declared throughout the land of Jambudvīpa” (541).