Myoho-renge-kyo ［妙法蓮華経］ (): (1) The Japanese reading of the Chinese title of the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law (Miao-fa-lien-hua-ching), translated by Kumārajīva in 406 from the Sanskrit Lotus Sutra, Saddharma-pundarīka-sūtra. See also Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law.
  (2) The Mystic Law, or Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This is the essence of Nichiren’s teaching, which comprises the Three Great Secret Laws, and which, he assures his followers, enables all people to attain Buddhahood. On the Four Stages of Faith and the Five Stages of Practice, written in 1277 by Nichiren, reads, “The five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo do not represent the sutra [Lotus Sutra] text, nor are they its meaning. They are nothing other than the intent of the entire sutra” (788). In Earthly Desires Are Enlightenment, Nichiren writes, “Practicing only the seven characters of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo seems limited, but since they are the master of all the Buddhas of the three existences, the teacher of all bodhisattvas in the ten directions, and the guide that enables all living beings to attain the Buddha way, it is profound” (317). See also five or seven characters; Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.