An adaptation of the Lotus Sutra in Pali and Japanese.
Intense visuals at the beginning, as the Buddha is shown preaching to a crowd of monastics and laymen at Eagle's Peak. The fantasy races and "kings from other worlds" elements are adapted with an ufological angle, implying that even people from other planets have come to hear the Buddha's message.
Some sci-fi implications when he projects a ray of light from his forehead to show that there are monastics all across the universe preaching his message. Retarded Hinayanas are shown upset and leaving when he says what he taught until now has been provisional.
Then the tone slows down as the Buddha begins reciting the Skillful Means, Burning House, Poor Son, Medicinal Herbs, Bestowal Of Prophecy, Illusory City, Five Hundred Cities parables. They are adapted in different cultures and time periods to convey the parable's specific themes.
The Buddha disappears as a narrator and is replaced by Nichiren Daishonin.
In-between the parables, the viewers are shown Nichiren's biography up until his attempted execution. Unlike the parables, the biographical scenes lack a direct message and instead focus on conveying the aesthetics and atmosphere of a Shinto-Buddhist Medieval Japan. Nature, buildings, period-appropriate crowds take precedence over a vague and implicit narrative. The condemnations against Nichiren are whispered, implied with double meaning statements, characters are shown staring at him with hatred. It's not spelled out, but the viewer picks up on a build-up of hostility at his preaching.
This builds up to a climax at the execution scene, which is stopped by a bright light orb.
The focus returns to The Buddha prophesying enlightenment for everyone in the congregation.
The Treasure Tower (ufologic implications) raises from the ground and brings the followers into space. Prabhutaratna exits the Stupa's "pilot cabin" and verifies that everything the Buddha has said is true.
After this, the movie gets lost in adapting the Treasure Tower part of the Lotus Sutra. The new teachings are spelled out directly and accentuated by intense psychedelic special effects and aesthetics bleeding into each other. Buddhas keep appearing, everyone keeps achieving Buddhahood, characters from the previous chapters appear playing entirely different roles, everything changes and ascends into higher states of enlightenment. There's a feeling of escalation, as confusing but intense scenes are arranged in a seemingly disjointed order (that can be ordered on further viewings).
The crescendo stops abruptly and is followed by a grounded adaption of Chapter 20 in a grimy vaguely-edgy-medieval setting. Some downie retard keeps telling people going to a non-descript prayer building that they will become Buddhas. At first they thank him in a "aww, look at this tard" way, then they try explaining that it's not that easy, then they tell him to fuck off and start throwing rocks. Eventually he is chased to a cliff and fucking dies. It's not spelled out, but implied heavily that he achieves enlightenment as The Buddha after this life.
Then we see Chapter 23's adaptation of a Bodhisattva setting himself on fire for 12 years as a sacrifice to a buddha illuminating many "world systems" (galaxies) for 12 (light?) years.
Footage is shown of different monastics lighting themselves, or parts of their body, on fire as the daimoku is chanted with increased intensity. The gruesome imagery is stopped abruptly with a fade to black and credit roll. The daimoku chanting doesn't stop even after this transition.