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Gosho Background Information

Letter to Gijo-bo

I have carefully reviewed your question about the Buddhist doctrines. The blessing of the Lotus Sutra can only be understood between Buddhas. It is the kind of enlightenment that even the wisdom of Shakyamuni Buddha’s emanations throughout the ten directions can barely fathom, if at all. This is why, as you well know, the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai construed the character myo [of Myoho-renge-kyo] to mean that which is beyond ordinary comprehension.¹ The Lotus Sutra proclaims a great diversity of practices, but only T’ien-t’ai, Miao-lo and Dengyo were able to understand the heart of the sutra. Among these men, the Great Teacher Dengyo was the reincarnation of T’ien-t’ai [and therefore well versed in the T’ien-t’ai doctrine]. Nevertheless, he sent envoys to T’ang China on many occasions in an effort to resolve the common doubts of others concerning the sutra. The essence of the sutra is the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds, one hundred worlds and one thousand factors, and the three thousand realms in a single moment of life. This is a doctrine of great importance which was revealed in the work entitled Maka shikan.

The teaching of the Juryo chapter bears special significance for me, Nichiren. T’ien-t’ai and Dengyo understood it in a general way but did not reveal it in words, and the same was true of Nagarjuna and Vasubandhu. The Jigage section of the chapter states, ‘...single-mindedly desiring to see the Buddha, not hesitating even if it costs them their lives...’ I, Nichiren, have called forth Buddhahood from within my life by living this sentence. This means that I myself embodied the Three Great Secret Laws, or the reality of the three thousand realms in a single moment of life, implied in the Juryo chapter. But let us keep this to ourselves!

Dengyo, the Great Teacher of Mount Hiei, journeyed to China to receive instruction in the profound meaning of this sentence from the sutra. ‘Single’ of ‘single-mindedly’ means the one pure way,² and ‘mind’ indicates all phenomena and existences. The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai explained the Chinese character for ‘mind’ by saying that it consists of four brush strokes representing the moon and three stars and implies that the mind that resides in the effect [of Buddhahood] is pure and clean.³ My interpretation of the passage is that ‘single’ stands for myo (mystic), ‘mind’ for ho (law), ‘desiring’ for ren (lotus), ‘see’ for ge (flower), and ‘Buddha’ for kyo (sutra). In propagating these five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo, one should ‘not hesitate even if it costs them their lives.’

‘Single-mindedly desiring to see the Buddha’ also means to see the Buddha in one’s own mind, to concentrate one’s mind on seeing the Buddha, and that to see one’s own mind is to see the Buddha. I have attained the fruit of Buddhahood, the eternally inherent three bodies,⁴ [by living this sentence]. In achieving this I am sure I surpass T’ien-t’ai and Dengyo, Nagarjuna and Mahakashyapa. The Buddha admonishes that one should by all means become the master of one’s mind rather than let one’s mind master oneself.⁵ This is why I have emphatically urged you not to hesitate to give up your body and your life for the sake of the Lotus Sutra. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Nichiren

The twenty-eighth day of the fifth month in the tenth year of Bun’ei (1273)

Footnotes:

1. Introduction to the Hokke Gengi.
2. One pure way: The true entity permeating all phenomena.
3. Source unknown.
4. Three enlightened properties of life: Here means that Nichiren Daishonin is the original Buddha eternally endowed with the three properties-the truth ofa Buddha's life (hosshin), the wisdom to perceive that truth (hoshin) and the merciful actions of a Buddha to save the people (ojin). "The three enlightened properties" of the original Buddha are defined as musa (literally "not created"), a Buddhist term meaning "natural" or "eternally inherent."
5. Nirvana Sutra, chap. 2.

Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin; Vol 2.

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