Three Assemblies at Two places

First Assembly on the Mt. Sacred Eagle – Ch. 1 to Ch. 10
The Buddha expounded the teaching of the Expedients of the Three Vehicles (San Jo) and the Truth of the One Vehicle (Ichi Jo) and the teaching of attainment of Buddhahood for the Two Vehicles. The Buddha expounded various parables to make other two vehicles understand the teaching.

Assembly in the Air – Ch. 11 to Ch. 22
The Buddha revealed the duration of His eternal life, which has been lasting since the remotest past. He also taught the practice of Bodhisattvas to expound His teaching after his extinction. As the Buddha expounds his teachings, Many Treasure Buddha and other Buddhas who are the Eternal Buddha's replicas listen to the Buddha.

Second Assembly on the Mt. Sacred Eagle – Ch. 23 to Ch. 28
At this Assembly Bodhisattvas praised the Lotus Sutra and vowed to protect practitioners of the Sutra and to spread the Sutra.

Assembly in the Air
The purpose of preaching at this assembly To save all people living in the Latter Age of Degeneration after the Buddha's extinction through the ceremony of the transmission of the Lotus Sutra.

Ki, Ken, Kyo – Beginning, Revealing, and Completing of the Transmission
“Now this Gohonzon begins the matter from the chapter of Beholding the Stupa of Treasures, reveals (the duration His life) in the chapter of the Duration of the Life of the Tathagata, and completes the matter in the chapter of Supernatural Powers of the Tathagatas and the chapter of Transmission. (omission) The Buddha called Bodhisattva Jogyo, Superior Practice, in the chapter of the Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground and then, transmitted the five letters of Myo, Ho, Ren, Ge, Kyo, which are the core of the Essential Section of the Lotus Sutra.” (Niiama Gozen Gohenji, Reply to Niiama, Showa Teihon p. 867)

The doctrine of Ki-Ken-Kyo indicates where the Honzon of the Essential Section appears and also describes the order of the ceremony of the transmission.

The Order of the Transmission of the Lotus Sutra

Ch. 10. the Teacher of the Dharma
The Buddha stated about difficulty to spread his teaching after his extinction.

“I have expounded many sutras. I am now expounding this sutra. I also will expound many sutras in the future. (omission) This Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.”

“This sutra is the store of the hidden core of all the Buddhas. Do not give it to others carelessly! It is protected by the Buddhas, by the World-Honored Ones. It has not been expounded explicitly. Many people hate it with jealousy even in my lifetime. Needless to say, more people will do so after my extinction .” (Murano, p. 175 – 176)

Ch. 11. Beholding the Stupa of Treasures
*A stupa of the seven treasures sprang up from underground.
*Many-Treasures Buddha approved what the Buddha had expounded .
*The Buddha purified the world three time.
*The Buddhas of the replicas of Sakyamuni Buddha gathered.
*The Buddha moved up to the sky and opened the door of the stupa.
*The Buddha and Many-Treasures Buddha sat together inside the stupa.
*The Buddha raised the all attendants up to the sky. (the Assembly in the Sky)

The Buddha said to the four kinds of devotees:
“Who will expound the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in this Saha-World? Now is the time to do this. I shall enter into Nirvana before long. I wish to transmit this Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma to someone so that this sutra may be preserved.” (Murano, p. 187)

The Buddha called three times for someone who would take the transmission of the Lotus Sutra after his extinction.

“Who will protect and keep this sutra, and read and recite it after my extinction? Make a vow before me to do this!” (Murano, p. 189)

“Who will protect the Dharma ? Make a great vow to preserve the Dharma forever!” (Murano, p. 189)

“It is difficult [to expound this sutra]. Make a great vow to do this!” (Murano, p. 190)

The Buddha warned the attendants how difficult expounding the sutra with telling six difficulties and nine easiness. (Murano, p. 190 – 192)

Ch. 13. Encouragement for Keeping This Sutra
Medicine-King Bodhisattva and Great-Eloquence Bodhisattva with other twenty thousand Bodhisattvas vowed to the Buddha:“We will keep, read, recite and expound this sutra after your extinction.” (Murano, p. 203)

Five hundred Arhats in the congregation, who had already been assured of their future Buddhahood, said to the Buddha,“We also vow to expound this sutra[, but we will expound it] in some other worlds [rather than in this Saha-World].” (Murano, p. 203)

Moreover, the bhiksunis lead by Gautami, step mother of Sakyamuni and Yasodhara, Sakyamuni's wife, vowed to the Buddha,“We also will expound this sutra in other worlds.” (Murano, p. 205)

The Buddha looked at the eighty billion nayuta Bodhisattvas silently.

The eighty billion nayuta Bodhisattvas vowed to the Buddha with “the gathas in twenty lines.” (Murano, p. 206-208) “We will not spare even our lives. We treasure only unsurpassed enlightenment.”

“They (evil bhiksus) will speak ill of us, or frown at us, or drive us out of our monasteries from time to time. But we will endure all these evils because we are thinking of your command.” (Murano, p. 208)

Ch. 15. The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground
The Buddha said to those Bodhisattvas: “No, good men! I do not want you to protect or keep this sutra.” (Murano, p. 228)

Then, the Buddha called Bodhisattvas sixty thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges in this Saha-World.

“They will protect, keep, read, recite and expound this sutra after my extinction.” (Murano, p. 228)

Appearance of the Bodhisattvas sprang up from underground with responding to the Buddha's order is a prologue to open the gate of the Essential Section of the Lotus Sutra.

The Bodhisattvas sixty thousand times as many as the sands of the River Ganges in this Saha-World sprang up from underground in this Saha-World. The Buddha revealed that they had been the Buddha's disciples since His original enlightenment in the remotest in the chapter of the Duration of the Life of the Tathagata.

Ch. 16. The Duration of the Life of the Tathagata
The Buddha revealed that He is the Original Teacher and the Original Buddha having eternal life.

“It is many hundreds of thousands of billions of mayutas of kalpas since I became the Buddha.” (Murano, p. 241)

“All this time I have been living in this Saha-World, and teaching [the living beings of this world] by expounding the Dharma to them.” (Murano, p. 242)

“It is very long since I became the Buddha. The duration of my life is innumerable, asamkhya kalpas. I am always here. I shall never pass away.” (Murano, p. 243)

Ch. 21. the Supernatural Powers of the Tathagatas
The Buddha displayed his ten great supernatural powers, and then the Buddha said to the great Bodhisattvas headed by Superior-Practice. The Buddha especially called his original disciples such as Bodhisattva Superior-Practice and transmitted the great Dharma by summing up:

“To sum up, all the teachings of the Tathagata, all the unhindered, supernatural powers of the Tathagata, all the treasury of the hidden core of the Tathagata, and all the profound achievements of the Tathagata are revealed and expounded explicitly in this sutra.” (Murano, p. 294)

Ch. 22. Transmission
The Buddha transmitted the Lotus Sutra to innumerable Bodhisattvas including his original disciples and disciples in other worlds, and had them vow three times: “We will do as you command.” (Murano, p. 298)

The transmission of the Lotus Sutra to be expounded after the Buddha's extinction completed then.