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Life of Nichiren Daishonin
(Source: Living Buddhism 12/97)
Seven chapters from the book The Life of
Nichiren Daishonin are included in the Entrance-level
curriculum.
Chapter 2: Proclamation of True
Buddhism
Chapter 7: Revelation of True Identity
Chapter 8: The Sado Exile
Chapter 10: Mongol Invasion
Chapter 11: Inscription of the
True Object of Worship
Chapter 12: Transferring the Heritage
Chapter 13: Epilogue
The following chapter follows Nichiren
Daishonin as the young Rencho on his journey to discover
the truth about Buddhism.
Chapter 2
(pp. 11-18):
Proclamation of True Buddhism
After leaving Seicho-ji, Rencho went to Kamakura, seat
of the shogunate government. Since Kamakura. was the center
of political power, it attracted priests from Kyoto, and
Buddhist temples had been built there in quick succession.
The Jodo, Zen and Ritsu sects were most prevalent, while
Tendai, Shingon and Kegon were hardly in evidence. It was
here that Rencho, began his studies to determine exactly
which sects taught what and how each related to his own
enlightenment.
He spent several years in Kamakura, reading the sutras
kept in the scripture library of the Hachiman shrine at
Tsurugaoka. He briefly returned to Seicho-ji in 1242, at
the age of twenty-one, and wrote a treatise entitled "On
Attaining Buddha hood through the Entity of Precepts."
Then in order to study further the doctrines and sutras
of various sects, he traveled to Kyoto and Nara, the centers
of Buddhism in Japan. just north east of Kyoto, the Tendai
sect had founded its head temple Enryaku-ji at Mount Hiei.
Thus Mount Hiei had become the most distinguished center
of Mahayana Buddhism based on the Lotus Sutra. Rencho studied
at Mount Hiei under a priest named Nansho-bo Shumpan, who
was acclaimed as a scholar of Buddhism by his colleagues
at Mount Hiei. In "On Refuting Ryokan and Other Priests,"
Nichiren Daishonin wrote: "... and then I studied at
Mount Hiei, Onjo-ji temple, Mount Koya and in other temples
in the Kyoto and countryside regions." So he obviously
did not confine his activities to Mount Hiei but searched
also among the documents at other temples. Onjo-ji temple,
also known as Mii-dera and located by Lake Biwa at the foot
of Mount Hiei, belonged to the Tendai sect. Mount Koya was
the center of study and practice of the Shingon sect, which
had been founded by Kobo (also known as Kukai)1.
By "the Kyoto region" he probably meant To-ji,
another famous temple of the Shingon sect, and other temples
which were located in the old capital. By "the countryside
region" he probably meant the Osaka area, where there
was a temple called Shitenno-ji that had been founded by
Prince Shotoku2 in 587. In addition,
it is likely, given the references in his later writings,
that he studied Chinese history and Confucianism, as Japan's
government in those days was deliberately modeled after
China's and classical Chinese was the language used for
most government documents
Beginning with the treatise he wrote during his brief stay
at Seicho-ji, the young scholar penned many writings3during
his years of intensive Buddhist study. - These writings
reveal his realizations about each of the sects he examined.
As his studies progressed, he became increasingly critical
in particular of the Shingon sect, along with the Zen, Judo,
Ritsu and other sects.
When Rencho was certain that the Lotus Sutra was the only
teaching which contained the truth he had previously awakened
to in front of Bodhisattva Kokuzo, he returned to Mount
Kiyosumi. His colleagues and teachers were happy to see
him and anxious to hear of life in the old capital, which
many of them had never seen. It is said that on his return,
he went to a room in the temple to seclude himself for a
week. If so, it would not have caused concern; religious
retreats were common in those days. Little did anyone realize
that young Rencho was preparing for the proclamation of
the correct teaching in the Latter Day of the Law.
Early on the morning of April 28, 1253, the thirty-two-year-old
priest climbed to the top of a hill at Kasagamori, which
commanded a clear view of the Pacific Ocean. There, as the
sun Illustrations by Ed Lee rose, he greeted it with humankind's
first invocation of the supreme Law. In a clear and resounding
voice he chanted, "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo." Before
heaven and earth, with the sun as his witness, he had proclaimed
the correct practice of Buddhism for people in the modem
era.
Myoho-renge-kyo is the title of the Lotus Sutra as it had
been translated into Chinese by the monk Kumarajiva (344-413).
But to young Rencho it was more than a title; it was the
essence of the Lotus Sutra, the revelation of the supreme
Law itself. It is better, perhaps, to let Nichiren Daishonin
himself explain this. In a writing dated just two years
after his climb to the hilltop to invoke the supreme Law
and entitled "On
Attaining Buddhahood," he wrote:
While deluded, one is called a common mortal, but once
enlightened, he is called a Buddha. Even a tarnished mirror
will shine like a jewel if it is polished. A mind which
presently is clouded by illusions originating from the
innate darkness of life is like a tarnished mirror, but
once it is polished it will become clear, reflecting the
enlightenment of immutable truth. Arouse deep faith and
polish your mirror night and day How should you polish
it? Only by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
What then does myo signify? It is simply the mysterious
nature of our lives from moment to moment, which the mind
cannot comprehend or words express. When you look into
your own mind at any moment, you perceive neither color
nor form to verify that it exists. Yet you still cannot
say it does not exist, for many differing thoughts continually
occur to you. Life is indeed an elusive reality that transcends
both the words and concepts of existence and nonexistence.
It is neither existence nor nonexistence, yet exhibits
the qualities of both. It is the mystic entity of the
Middle Way that is the reality of all things. Myo
is the name given to the mystic nature of life, and ho
to its manifestations.
Renge, the lotus flower, symbolizes the wonder
of this Law Once you realize that your own life is the
Mystic Law, you will realize that so are the lives of
all others. That realization is the mystic kyo,
or sutra. It is the king of sutras, the direct path to
enlightenment, for it explains that the entity of our
minds, from which spring both good and evil, is in fact
the entity of the Mystic Law. If you have deep faith in
this truth and chant Myoho-renge-kyo, you are certain
to attain Buddhahood in this lifetime (The Major Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, pp. 4-5)
Nam, he later explained, means to make the heritage
of the supreme Law one's own by fusing with it; literally
meaning devotion, Nam in this case denotes devotion to the
Mystic Law of Myoho-renge-kyo. In other words, the
practice of the Latter Day is to devote oneself to the 'supreme
Law of life through chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Now that Rencho had made his proclamation to the heaven
and earth, he left the hilltop to return to Seicho-ji temple
where he would have an audience of humans, many of them
priests and students at the temple, others from the nearby
villages. Already, it had been fourteen years since he had
left for Kamakura and the Kyoto-Nara area. In all, it had
been twenty years since he had entered Seicho-ji for the
first time.
At noon before his audience in the main hall of the Shobutsu-bo,
or priests' lodging, of Seicho-ji temple, Rencho made his
proclamation. In addition, he denounced the four other major
sects of the day -- Nembutsu, Zen, Shingon and Ritsu. Through
his studies, Rencho understood that these sects were based
on the partial truths contained in the provisional sutras
and not the complete truth Shakyamuni had expounded in the
Lotus Sutra.
The Nembutsu. sect attacked the Lotus Sutra as too profound
to be grasped by people in the Latter Day of the Law, and
urged them to recite the name of Amida Buddha in order to
be reborn in the Western Paradise. However, in that Nembutsu
slandered the Lotus Sutra, Rencho asserted that it led not
to paradise but hell. The Zen sect claimed that enlightenment
was transmitted apart from the sutras. In denying the sutras
in general and the Lotus in particular, Rencho said, Zen
was in effect denying Buddhism itself; hence he termed it
"the work of devils." Shingon not only ranked
its teachings above the Lotus Sutra. but revered the Buddha
Dainichi or Mahavairochana, not Shakyamuni who actually
taught Buddhism in this world. The esoteric rituals of Shingon
were employed to protect the nation, but because the sect
itself was based on a misconception, Rencho said, it would
on the contrary work to bring about the nation's downfall.
Ritsu adhered to the Hinayana rules of discipline which
were valid only in the Former Day of the Law. Ritsu had
supporters among top government officials; Rencho saw the
confusion it generated about Buddhism as an influence which
disrupted the nation spiritually and was therefore treasonous.
In addition to refuting the existing sects of Buddhism,
he announced that he would change his name to Nichiren,
"Sun Lotus." The Gosho "Letter
to Jakunichi-bo" states, "Giving myself the
name Nichiren signifies that I attained enlightenment by
myself" (MW-1, 236). Taking on the name Nichiren represents
his conviction that he was the original Buddha. In "Easy
Delivery of a Fortune Child," the Daishonin also
says, "Is there anything brighter than the sun and
the moon? Is there anything purer than the lotus flower?
The Lotus Sutra is the sun and the moon. and the lotus flower.
Therefore, it is called Myoho-renge-kyo (the Sutra of the
Lotus Flower of the Mystic Law). Nichiren is also like the
sun and the moon and also like the lotus flower" (MW-4,
87). Taking the name Nichiren indicates that Nichiren Daishonin
is the Buddha who sheds light upon the impure and evil Latter
Day of the Law and causes blossoms of happiness to unfold
amid the torment of society, just as the sun and moon illuminate
all people and the beautiful lotus blooms from an impure
and muddy swamp.
His audience was not pleased. Not only had they never heard
of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which he had said was the ultimate
entity of Buddhahood and the direct path to enlightenment,
but he had offended their long-cherished beliefs in other
sects. Especially displeased was Tojo Kagenobu, the steward
of Tojo Village in Awa Province and a passionate believer
in the Nembutsu. He managed to hide his anger in the presence
of the priests and villagers, but he ordered his men to
ambush and do away with this man whom he considered to be
an impostor and a dangerous heretic.
Though an ardent believer in Nembutsu, Dozen-bo took pity
on his former disciple and instructed Joken-bo and Gijo-bo,
senior disciples, to show him a hidden trail to safety.
It was dusk as Nichiren Daishonin entered the pathway Thus
the sun, which had been rising as the founder of true Buddhism
chanted the supreme invocation and had been high in the
sky as he delivered his sermon, now began to set as he hurried
through the woods.
During the ensuing years the Daishonin
encountered many life threatening persecutions including
his first exile for which he was later pardoned. The greatest
of these persecutions was an attempt to execute him on the
beach at Tatsunokuchi one night in 1271. As the executioner
was about to behead him, a meteor lit up the sky terrifying
government soldiers. The next two chapters explain events
immediately after the attempted execution.
Chapter 7
(pp. 56-59):
Revelation of True Identity
The near execution at Tatsunokuchi amounted to a rebirth
for Nichiren Daishonin. He later said in "The
Opening of the Eyes" that "this person named
Nichiren was beheaded" (MW-2, 177). As his post-Tatsunokuchi
writings testify, the man who emerged after his brush with
the executioner's sword was decidedly transformed. This
is not to say that the Daishonin underwent a change of heart
but that the time had come for him to reveal his true identity
The Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai of China had interpreted the
Lotus Sutra by dividing it into two parts. The first fourteen
of the twenty-eight chapters he called shakumon or
the theoretical teaching, and the second fourteen hommon
or the essential teaching. The Japanese word hon
(hom is a phonetic change of hon) means substance
and shaku means shadow. Thus the theoretical teaching
is like a shadow of the essential, or substantial, teaching.
The same comparison can be used with Nichiren Daishonin.
Before the event at Tatsunokuchi, he carried out the role
of Bodhisattva Jogyo,4 the votary
whose appearance in an age after Shakyamuni's death was
predicted in the Lotus Sutra. He thus spent all his time
spreading the teachings of the sutra and propagating the
faith in it. After the Tatsunokuchi Persecution, he revealed
himself as the Buddha from time without beginning who is
one with the supreme Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. In other
words, his former role was but a reflection of the true
mission to which he had been born.
T'ien-t'ai had drawn the same distinction between the Shakyamuni
depicted in the first fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sutra
and the Shakyamuni in its second fourteen chapters. In the
first half, T'ien-t'ai had said, Shakyamuni was merely a
person who had attained enlightenment in India. In the second
half, he was a Buddha who had attained his enlightenment
in the unimaginably distant past and whose Buddhahood continued
from that point to exist for all eternity.
This process of a Buddha casting off his transient provisional
nature and revealing his true nature has come to be known
in Buddhism as hosshaku kempon (literally, to cast
off the transient and reveal the true). Nichiren Daishonin's
hosshaku kempon came at Tatsunokuchi. That
is why he could say that a man named Nichiren died at Tatsunokuchi.
The individual who emerged after the execution attempt was
the Buddha of time without beginning. In his earliest writings
after the Tatsunokuchi persecution, Nichiren Daishonin began
referring, albeit in an abstract manner, to the real nature
of his existence. This was particularly evident in "The
True Object of Worship," in which he identified
himself as the original Buddha coexistent with the eternal
Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
The contemporary Western mind often recoils at the mention
of anything that could be construed as suggesting the existence
of a superior being. In equating Nichiren Daishonin with
the original Buddha since time without beginning, there
is always the possibility that the mind will react in just
this way What the reader should bear in mind is that Nichiren
Daishonin consistently stated throughout his writings that
"the true Buddha is a common mortal, a common mortal
the true Buddha." In other words, in each being there
dwells the Buddha nature. However, if people are to attain
Buddhahood, someone must show them how to manifest that
nature. It was Nichiren Daishonin's unique mission, so to
speak, to reveal the way for all people to manifest their
latent Buddhahood. In him, the state of Buddha, manifested
to open the way to enlightenment for all, while in others,
the state of Buddhahood must be established perfected through
constant practice. In other words, Nichiren Daishonin opened
the way for the attainment of enlightenment by all humanity.
Nichiren Daishonin was born into this world to lead a spiritual
revolution that would irrevocably transform human beings
and their surroundings. As he once wrote, when a person
sits in worship of the true entity of life, the common mortal
faces the original Buddha. In the process, he becomes a
Buddha, too.
Chapter 8 (pp.
60-82):
The Sado Exile
The execution attempt frustrated, the forces of Hei no
Saemon had no choice but to follow the original plan of
taking Nichiren Daishonin to Homma Shigetsura's residence.
The Daishonin stayed at the residence in Echi, Sagami Province,
for almost a month, awaiting word of his fate from the government.
In the meantime, Hojo Tokimune encountered some sort of
trouble, the details of which have been lost to history,
but in consulting a fortune-teller he was told that it was
connected with the attempted execution. He ordered the Daishonin
to be freed, but events quickly militated against his decision.
A wave of arson and murder swept the city, and the Daishonin's
followers were blamed. The government then ordered that
the plan for exile be set in motion. So, on October 10,
Nichiren Daishonin was escorted by Homma's warriors northward.
When the group reached the coast of the Sea of Japan, they
were forced to stop for several days at a little haven called
Teradomari. Snow covered the ground and the sea was in tumult.
No crossing was possible.
In journeying to Teradomari, the Daishonin, as he recounted,
had passed over "mountains beyond mountains";
now before him lay "waves upon waves" of the raging
sea, a sea which he had never before seen. Beyond that lay
Sado Island, cold and forbidding, waiting to swallow him
in an exile from which none of his enemies ever expected
him to return.
The faithful Nikko Shonin and several acolytes remained
at his side, and lay believers kept sending messengers to
inquire about his safety. The community of believers was
more than a little shaken by the events, and the Daishonin
sent a succession of letters to reassure them. In "Lessening
One's Karmic Retribution," written while he was
still at Homma's residence, he said that hardships are like
a crucible in which a person can purge himself of his accumulated
karma and bring forth the state of Buddhahood shining like
a diamond. In "Letter from Teradomari," sent to
Toki Jonin on October 22, he said that the persecutions
he was facing were in perfect accord with the Lotus Sutra's
prophecy that the votary would be banished "again and
again." As some of his followers had been imprisoned
on false charges during the wave of terror in Kamakura,
he asked in the letter for Jonin to send back word of their
fate.
In the "Letter
from Sado," written five months later, he enjoined
his disciples not to lose faith in the face of difficulties,
whether they be his or theirs. He told them that the only
route to Buddhahood is through offering one's life the most
precious treasure to the Lotus Sutra. By this, he meant
for his disciples not to be frightened by persecutions but
to propagate true Buddhism confidently, no matter what might
happen.
When sea travel became possible, the Daishonin was escorted
to Sado Island by boat. He and his captors landed there
on October 28, and on November I he was taken to a place
called Tsukahara. There he was assigned a hut in a graveyard
as his abode. This broken-down former shrine where the original
Buddha was to live for the next several months, was named
Sammai-do. On November 23, the Daishonin sent another letter,
entitled "Aspiration
for the Buddha Land," to Toki Jonin. Probably he
entrusted its delivery to some of his acolytes who had accompanied
him from Kamakura. In it he commented: "I am sending
back some of the young priests. You can ask them what this
province is like and about the circumstances under which
I live. It is impossible to describe these matters in writing"
(MW-5,132).
In this letter, the Daishonin also made a proclamation
about his identity:
The advent of the Great Law is already before our very
eyes. In the twenty-two hundred years and more since the
Buddha's passing, in all of India, China, Japan and the
entire world, [as the Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai states:]
"Vasubandhu and Nagarjuna,5
clearly perceived the truth in their hearts, but they
did not teach it. Instead, they preached the provisional
Mahayana teachings, which were suited to their times."
T'ien-t'ai and Dengyo gave a general indication of it
but left its propagation for the future. Now this secret
Law, the one great reason for which all Buddhas make their
advent, will be spread for the first time in this country.
And is not Nichiren the very person who propagates it?
(MW-5,130)
Even with their foe in exile, the leaders of the other
sects were not content. Anything short of his demise was,
for them, unthinkable. Early in 1272, scores of priests
converged on the island from their home provinces across
the sea in the area now composed of Niigata, Nagano and
Yamagata prefectures. They consulted with Homma Shigetsura
about the matter, but he dashed their hopes for a quick
end to their enemy by telling them: "An official letter
has arrived from the government directing that the priest
shall not be executed. This is no ordinary contemptible
criminal and if anything happens to him, I will be guilty
of grave dereliction. Instead of killing him, why don't
you confront him in religious debate?"
The debate took place On January 16 and 17, 1272, and it
pitted the Daishonin against several hundred priests of
the other sects. He recounted the debate later when he wrote
"On
the Buddha's Behavior." According to this account,
he first had to quell disorder-shouting and shoving among
the participants-before the debate could begin. The priests
proceeded to cite the doctrines of their various sects Nembutsu,
Zen, Shingon and Ritsu. The Daishonin replied in turn, confirming
the meaning of what each had said, and then asked questions.
Very quickly he ,was able to expose their contradictory
assertions and scriptural incompatibilities. The priests
were speechless, no match for the Daishonin's penetrating
understanding of the sutras. Several of their followers
professed belief in the Daishonin's teaching on the spot.
These were not the only followers Nichiren Daishonin was
to win during his exile on Sado. There would be many more
and even the year before he had succeeded in converting
a believer in Amida Buddha who had come to Sammai-do to
confront him. The man's name was Abutsu-bo, ardent in his
belief. Once the Daishonin had managed to engage him in
dialogue, however, Abutsu-bo had become convinced of the
truth of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and immediately became the
Daishonin's follower. He then went home and converted his
wife, Sennichi-ama. These two believers in Amida Buddha
became the Daishonin's providers and protectors while he
was on Sado Island, much as Funamori Yasaburo and his wife
had been during the lzu Exile [the first exile]. The Daishonin
later addressed many letters of thanks to them. Ko Nyudo
and his wife also converted to the Daishonin's teachings
while he was in exile on Sado, making offerings to him and
providing him with various kinds of assistance. He lived
in Ko, the capital of the province of Sado.
Sairen-bo, a priest of the Tendai sect who for some reason
had been exiled to Sado Island, was also one of the Daishonin's
converts. Sairen-bo had several unresolved questions about
Buddhism, and he addressed them to Nichiren Daishonin. The
reply came in the form of a letter, known today as "Heritage
of the Ultimate Law of Life," dated February 11,
1272.
In this, the Daishonin said that the Law which Bodhisattva
Jogyo inherited from Shakyamuni Buddha at the Ceremony in
the Air6 is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo,
which is the life of the original Buddha since time without
beginning. In a broader sense, he taught that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
is the entity of all people's lives, and that by believing
in the Lotus Sutra and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, one
"inherits" the wisdom to realize that his own
life is the Mystic Law. In other words, by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo,
one manifests the Buddha nature within oneself.
Short as it was, this writing carried an extremely profound
message since it revealed the essence of the Lotus Sutra
and the heart of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism. It was the
kind of thesis that the Daishonin was able to write only
after he had a learned disciple such as Sairen-bo to receive
it.
On February 20, shortly after writing "Heritage
of the Ultimate Law of Life," Nichiren Daishonin
sent another thesis to Sairen-bo, entitled "Enlightenment
of Plants," which discussed the potentiality of Buddhahood
in insentient beings. Sairen-bo also received "The
True Entity of Life" and "The
Entity of the Mystic Law," both written in 1273.
After his exile, he founded Honkoku-ji temple near Mount
Minobu in the province of Kai. In February 1272 the Daishonin
also completed "The
Opening of the Eyes," of which he later said: "I
wanted to record the wonder I had experienced, in case I
should be beheaded" (MW-1, 189). This was in reference
to the mortal danger he faced. For, so long as rival priests
conspired against him, the Daishonin had to live with the
threat of death. After the debate, the priests, more angered
than ever, had petitioned Hojo Nobutoki of the Kamakura.
government to help them stem the tide of defection from
their sects. Nobutoki then issued a proclamation without
the regent's knowledge, which decreed: "Those who become
Nichiren's disciples from among the Sado inhabitants should
be either banished or imprisoned. The Daishonin later wrote
of this edict: "Some people were thrown into prison
because they were said to have walked past my hut..."
(Ibid., p. 192).
Shortly before the edict was issued, however, the Hojo
clan was rocked by internal intrigue. Hojo Tokisuke, an
elder half brother of the regent, conspired to seize power,
but his plot was uncovered. Nagoe Tokiaki and Nagoe Noritoki,
who were regarded as his coconspirators, were put to death
on February 11. Four days later, Hojo Tokisuke was killed.
The rebellion had been stopped before it had a chance to
get started, but even the prospect of rebellion was enough
to send shock waves around the country. All this worked
in the Daishonin's favor. Since he had predicted internal
strife twelve years earlier in the "Rissho
Ankoku Ron," and since he had told Homma Shigetsura
only a month before it broke out that it was imminent, the
Daishonin was suddenly taken more seriously by both Homma
and the government. When Homma learned that the Daishonin's
prediction had come true, he is said to have discarded his
belief in the Pure Land teachings. As a consequence, the
Daishonin was transferred in April from the hut at Tsukahara.
to an ordinary residence at Ichinosawa.
During the Sado Exile, the Daishonin was able, through
his writings, to lay virtually the complete theoretical
foundation of his teachings. "Heritage
of the Ultimate Law of Life" had been the first
major thesis, and in "The
Opening of the Eyes," completed only a few days
after "Heritage
of the Ultimate Law of Life," he identified himself
as the original Buddha, a vital first step in the process
of clarifying the true object of worship. This would soon
be followed by other important treatises. The Sado Exile
thus provided Nichiren Daishonin with the opportunity to
establish the philosophical groundwork of his Buddhism.
In "The
Opening of the Eyes," Nichiren Daishonin said that
there are three people one should revere above all else
the sovereign, the teacher and the parent. The sovereign
is the one who guarantees the security of human beings by
wielding social power, the teacher the one who imparts knowledge
and helps people develop their wisdom, and the parent the
one who gives birth to flesh and blood and nurtures life.
There are many ways of looking at the concept of sovereign,
teacher and parent, but what the Daishonin intended was
the scriptural conception of the Buddha who embodies all
three attributes, i.e., the Buddha who protects, guides
and compassionately nurtures all people through the medium
of the supreme Law. In the end, the treatise stated that
in the Latter Day the person who encompasses these three
qualities is none other than Nichiren Daishonin.
In this way, the Daishonin defined the true object of worship
in terms of the Person, i.e., in terms of the Buddha who
eternally guides, protects and nurtures all people in their
striving for Buddhahood. "The
True Object of Worship," written in April 1273,
one year later, clarified the object in terms of the Law
which enables people to reach enlightenment. These two writings
established the theoretical framework for the inscription
of the object of worship.
After "The
Opening of the Eyes," the Daishonin wrote a short
letter to his followers, the previously mentioned "Letter
from Sado." As well as encouraging his followers,
whose faith had been shaken by the Tatsunokuchi and Sado
persecutions, this letter also served to restate the conclusion
of "The
Opening of the Eyes." The Daishonin wrote: "Nichiren
is the pillar, sun, moon, mirror and eyes of the ruling
clan of Kanto....
Nichiren is father and mother to the ruling clan..."(MW-1,
36). ("Pillar" refers to the virtue of sovereign;
"sun, moon, mirror and eyes" to the virtue of
teacher; and "father and mother" to the virtue
of parent. And Kanto here is used to denote the Kamakura
government.)
"Letter
from Sado" was dated March 20. In April, Shijo
Kingo journeyed from Kamakura to visit the Daishonin. In
a letter entitled "The
Causal Law of Life," the Daishonin praised the
sincerity of Kingo's wife, who had sent her husband on the
long trip. In May, a lady with her small child came from
Kamakura, and the Daishonin was so moved by the effort she
expended in making the journey that he gave her the Buddhist
name Nichimyo Shonin (Sage Nichimyo). The title was apt,
for the lady and her daughter continued to persevere in
Buddhist practice long after the Daishonin's death.
Meanwhile, the number of people on Sado professing faith
in the Daishonin's Buddhism continued to increase, and Abutsu-bo
and his wife became the mainstays of this community of believers.
At the house in which the Daishonin lived in Ichinosawa,
the landlord's wife became a believer, and the landlord
himself developed a favorable attitude, though he did not
take up the faith. At nearby Nakaoki, a leading disciple
appeared by the name of Nakaoki Nyudo.
Nichiren Daishonin now set about refuting the Shingon sect,
a task which he had undertaken before, but this time his
goal was to pave the way for "The
True Object of Worship." He considered this refutation
essential because the Shingon sect had preceded him in inscribing
a mandala as an object of worship.
In a letter he gave to Shijo Kingo in May 1272, the Daishonin
expounded the principle that earthly desires lead to enlightenment-that
is, the mundane cravings of the individual, when tempered
by faith in the True Law, become the fuel for enlightenment.
In the same month, he addressed a writing entitled "The
Errors of the Shingon and Other Sects" to Toki Jonin,
and in July he wrote "The Refutation of the Shingon
Sect.”
"The
True Object of Worship" was issued on April 25,
1273. The original title of the work reads, in Japanese,
Kanjin no honzon sho, which literally means "writing
on the object of worship for observing one's mind."
The Daishonin began the text by quoting from T'ien-t'ai's
Maka Shikan (Great Concentration and Insight) a passage
which explains the principle of ichinen sanzen (three
thousand realms in a single moment of life).7
He then explained that kanjin means to observe one's
mind (mind here being used more 'broadly to mean life) and
thus realize that one is the entity of ichinen sanzen.
This process of recognizing one's essential nature, he said,
is the principle of attaining Buddhahood. He then revealed
that the reality described by ichinen sanzen is nothing
other than Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and declared that, for the
first time in the history of Buddhism, he was going to inscribe
the object of worship of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Thus he explained
the Gohonzon as the object of faith for attaining Buddhahood.
A passage from "The
True Object of Worship" reads: Shakyamuni's practices
and the virtues he consequently attained are all contained
within the single phrase, Myoho-renge-kyo. If we believe
in that phrase, we shall naturally be granted the same benefits
as he was" (MW-1, 64).
In this way, the Daishonin explained that believing in
and embracing the object of worship of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
is equivalent to observing one's mind. By such worship the
common mortal can attain Buddha hood in the present life,
without undergoing any transformation or practice of austerities.
A common mortal, in other words, can become a Buddha.
It was now clear, from a doctrinal viewpoint, that the
object of worship the Daishonin intended to inscribe would
embody Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the Law, and the life of Nichiren
Daishonin as the Person eternally manifesting that Law.
The Daishonin carefully composed "The
True Object of Worship" in classical Chinese, as
was the practice for all important writings in those days.
He gave it to Toki Jonin, and it has been preserved in its
original form at Nakayama Hokekyo-ji temple, which developed
from Toki's estate. In addition, the faithful disciple Nikko
Shonin made a copy which has been preserved at Yoho-ji temple
in Kyoto.
"The
True Entity of Life," dated May 17 and given to
Sairen-bo, abridged "The
True Object of Worship," much in the way that "Letter
from Sado" was used a year earlier to back up "The
Opening of the Eyes." "The
True Entity of Life" is famous for the passage
with which it closes. This passage has continued to be quoted
throughout the centuries as the basic spirit of Buddhist
practice:
Believe in the Gohonzon, the supreme object of worship
in the world. Forge strong faith and receive the protection
of Shakyamuni, Taho and all the other Buddhas. Exert yourself
in the two ways of practice and study. Without practice
and study, there can be no Buddhism. You must not only
persevere yourself; you must also teach others. Both practice
and study arise from faith. Teach others to the best of
your ability, even if only a single sentence or phrase
(Ibid., pp. 94-95).
In the same month, Nichiren Daishonin addressed a letter
to Gijo-bo, who had been his senior at Seicho-ji temple
when he studied Buddhism there in boyhood. The Daishonin
said that, of all the chapters in the Lotus Sutra, the Juryo
[Life Span] (sixteenth) chapter was especially important
to him. He quoted a passage, "Single-mindedly yearning
to see the Buddha, they do not begrudge their lives,"
and noted: "I Nichiren, have called forth Buddhahood
from within my life by living this sentence. This means
that I actualized the Three Great Secret Laws, the embodiment
of ichinen sanzen in the Juryo chapter" (MW-2,236).
This is the first written mention in his extant works of
the Three Great Secret Laws: the invocation (Nam-myoho-renge-kyo),
the object of worship (the Dai Gohonzon, toward whose inscription
he was working), and the place of worship (the sanctuary
of the true object, whose construction he would leave to
his disciples). He clarified these three in "Repaying
Debts of Gratitude" in 1276, though it is possible
that he also did so prior to 1273 in writings which may
have been lost.
He authored several other important writings in May 1273.
In the Gosho "On
Practicing the Buddha's Teachings," the Daishonin
took the opportunity to state that refuting misleading sects
and converting their believers, based on unwavering faith
in the Lotus Sutra, comprise the practice that accords exactly
with Shakyamuni's teachings. In this work he also stated
that the three powerful enemies will surely arise to confront
those who practice correctly.
In "On
the Buddha's Prophecy," another important writing,
the Daishonin said that the appearance of his Buddhism had
been predicted in the Lotus Sutra. In addition, he confidently
stated that his teaching would never fail to spread throughout
the world. Further, in writings he addressed to Toki Jonin
and Hakiri Sanenaga (MW-6, 46-48) he expressed his complete
confidence that his teachings were far superior to those
of the Great Teachers T'ien-t'ai and Dengyo.
By this time the Daishonin had already begun bestowing
individual Gohonzon (objects of worship) on his staunchest
disciples. in fact, he had begun inscribing mandalas shortly
after the Tatsunokuchi Persecution. Those that he bestowed
on his disciples have come to be known as "the Gohonzon
of specific receptivity and relatedness." Some of these
are still extant, and from them one can see that they were
rather simply inscribed in comparison to the elaborateness
of the Dai Gohonzon of the high sanctuary he would bestow
upon all humankind several years later. Still, these mandalas
carried the inscriptions, "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo"
and "Nichiren," which contained the expression
of the oneness of the Person and the Law.
In the accompanying letters that Nichiren Daishonin sent
to the recipients of these Gohonzon, he taught the relationship
between the object of worship and the life of the original
Buddha, and the correct attitude in faith. A letter dated
August 15, 1273, and sent to Shijo Kingo is typical of these.
It was a reply to Kingo's report of the illness of his daughter,
Kyo'o. The Daishonin wrote:
Always cherish the Gohonzon which I sent some time ago
for her protection. This Gohonzon was never known, let
alone inscribed, by anyone in the Former or Middle Day
of the Law. The lion, king of beasts, is said to advance
three steps, then gather himself to spring, unleashing
the same power whether he traps a tiny ant or attacks
a fierce animal. In inscribing this Gohonzon for her protection,
Nichiren is equal to the lion king. This is what the sutra.
means by "the power of an attacking lion." Believe
in this mandala with all your heart. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
is like the roar of a lion. What sickness can therefore
be an obstacle? (MW-1, 119)
Then he went on to say, in one of the most famous passages
of his writings:
A sword will be useless in the hands of a coward. The
mighty sword of the Lotus Sutra. must be wielded by one
courageous in faith. Then he will be as strong as a demon
armed with an iron staff. I Nichiren, have inscribed my
life in sumi [black Chinese ink], so believe in the Gohonzon
with your whole heart. The Buddha's will is the Lotus
Sutra, but the soul of Nichiren is nothing other than
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. (Ibid., p. 120)
He concluded with a final exhortation about faith: "Muster
your faith and pray to this Gohonzon. Then what is there
that cannot be achieved?"
The two most essential writings of the Daishonin, "The
Opening of the Eyes" and "The
True Object of Worship," dealt with the theoretical
or doctrinal basis of the Gohonzon. A writing given to Sairen-bo
in 1273, but of uncertain date, now broached the subject
of what one attains by embracing faith in this object of
worship. It was called "The
Entity of the Mystic Law."
In this, the Daishonin said that in theory every single
human being is the entity of Myoho-renge-kyo, but in practice
only those who invoke Nam-myoho-renge-kyo -with faith in
the Lotus Sutra are truly manifesting Myoho-renge-kyo or
the Buddha nature within themselves. He then added that
Myoho-renge-kyo is the enlightenment of the original Buddha
of kuon ganjo,8 or time
without beginning and that all kinds of Buddhist teachings
have been expounded as a means to let people understand
Myoho-renge-kyo. The Law that was transferred by
Shakyamuni Buddha to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth during
the Ceremony in the Air was this very Myoho-renge-kyo.
He then stated that teachers such as Nan-yueh9
and T’ien-t'ai in China and Dengyo in Japan all perceived
the Law of Myoho-renge-kyo, and he quoted from their
diaries to show that they themselves had cherished Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
He concluded by saying that they did not teach Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
because it was not yet the Latter Day.
The importance of "The
Entity of the Mystic Law" lies in its teaching
that people need not transform themselves through rigorous
self-discipline, austerities or self-mortification to reach
Buddhahood. By embracing the true object with faith, all
people can attain the enlightenment of Buddhahood just as
they are.
On March 8, 1274, a government envoy arrived with a pardon
for the Daishonin. No reasons were given for the government's
action, but it appears in retrospect that the officials
were concerned about the arrival of a Mongol emissary and
the abortive coup of Hojo Tokisuke, events which seemed
to bear out the Daishonin's earlier predictions. And so
Nichiren Daishonin ended more than two years of exile, a
period during which he had authored some of his most important
writings and laid the foundation for inscribing an object
of worship to be bestowed not on individuals but on all
human beings.
Upon his return to the capitol, Kamakura,
the Daishonin remonstrated again with the government, but
to no avail. He then took up residence in the remote mountains
Of Minobu where he continued to write important works and
instruct his disciples.
Chapter 10 (pp.
83-89):
Mongol Invasion
The Mongols struck in October 1274 in massive numbers:
15,000 Mongols and Chinese, 5,000 Koreans, 5,000 colonials
and 6,000 mariners borne aboard 300 warships, 300 swift
boats and 300 water-supply vessels, all constructed by the
Koreans at the order of Khubilai Khan. The odds overwhelmingly
favored the Mongol forces, whose close-order tactics and
use of gunpowder rendered the Japanese warriors, with their
bows and arrows and reliance on hand-to-hand combat, almost
defenseless.
At first, the Japanese losses were staggering, and the
Mongols seemed unstoppable. The would be conquerors swept
through the islands of Tsushima and Rd, and by the middle
of the month were pressing their attack in Kyushu, the southwestern
island of the Japanese archipelago. Hirato, Chikuzen and
Imazu came under attack, but the main part of the invading
force struck at the port city of Hakata, the first and only
barrier to the political center at Dazaifu. The local government
rushed its warriors to Hakata, but they were cut down in
rapid order When things looked the bleakest, however, a
storm came to the aid of the Japanese and sank more, than
two hundred of the Mongols' battleships. Staggered by their
losses, the invaders withdrew to Korea.
News of the attack did not reach Kamakura. until November
1, and Nichiren Daishonin commented on the invasion in a
letter dated November 11 and sent to his follower Nanjo
Tokimitsu:
Since I hear that the Great Mongol Empire has invaded
this, country I think with regret what the situation would
have been like if they had heeded what 1, Nichiren, had
warned. Tears do not stop flowing when I think of the
destiny of the Japanese people, which will be the same
as that of Iki and Tsushima which have now been destroyed
(Gosho Zenshu, P. 1509).
The Mongols, of course, were still determined to conquer
Japan, and they sent envoys again in March of the next year.
The Kamakura government set up coastal defenses and ordered
tight security around the western perimeter of Kyushu. The
envoys were beheaded in September.
While the government was worrying about foreign invasion,
the Daishonin was in retirement on Mount Minobu. Retirement,
however, did not exactly mean a life of leisure for the
Daishonin; he was busy writing letters (some 120 between
1274 and 1278), training his disciples and followers, and
giving lectures on the Lotus Sutra. The task of propagation
had now been assumed by the senior priests, who were scattered
in various regions of the country and by the lay believers,
who heretofore had concentrated on supporting the Daishonin
through offerings.
As the lay followers became more active in propagation,
they ran into various difficulties and persecutions of their
own. Each time, the Daishonin hurried letters of guidance
and encouragement to them. Perhaps the two most famous cases
involving individual followers were those of the faithful
warrior, Shijo Kingo, and the Ikegami brothers, Munenaka
and Munenaga.
Around 1274, Shijo Kingo began trying to convert his lord
Ema to the Daishonin's Buddhism. Lord Ema did not take kindly
to these efforts at propagation and, fueled by slander from
Kingo's colleagues, reduced the believer's fief. The situation
worsened in 1277 when Kingo attended a debate between Sammi-bo
Nichigyo, a disciple of the Daishonin, and Ryuzo-bo, a follower
of the Tendai sect. Kingo's colleagues again assailed him
before Lord Ema, this time for what they claimed was an
attempt to disrupt the debate and embarrass Ryuzo-bo.
The Daishonin wrote Shijo Kingo several letters and even
went so far as to write an appeal to Lord Ema on Kingo's
behalf. In these letters, the Daishonin offered much practical
advice as well as guidance in faith. He told Kingo that
he should regard service to his lord with the same reverence
and dedication that he showed toward the Daishonin's teachings.
He thus stated a principle of Buddhist practice that has
endured as one of the fundamental guidelines for more than
seven centuries faith is not separate from daily life but
reveals itself precisely in the realm of worldly affairs.
Later, Lord Ema contracted an illness, and Shijo Kingo
used his medical skills, to cure him. The grateful lord
then restored and actually increased Kingo's fief. Shijo
Kingo had remained steadfast in his faith throughout the
ordeal.
The circumstances involving the Ikegami brothers were somewhat
similar, but they pitted sons against father, rather than
vassal against lord. Both Munenaka. and Munenaga had been
believers in the Daishonin's Buddhism for many years, but
around 1275 their father, Yasumitsu, the director of the
Office of Construction and Repairs of the Kamakura government,
started making demands of them. He disowned the older, Munenaka,
and informed the younger, Munenaga, that he would have to
choose between his faith and his father. If he chose the
former, he, too, would be disowned. The reason for Yasumitsu's
abrupt change of sentiment toward his sons' faith is not
clear, but it appears that Ryokan of Gokuraku-ji temple
had a hand in influencing him. Nichiren Daishonin encouraged
Munenaka and Munenaga in the "Letter
to the Brothers," telling them that faith in the
Lotus Sutra will invariably invite the persecution of others
and urging them never to retreat. Yasumitsu's repudiation
was withdrawn, temporarily, in 1277, but he soon disowned
the elder son again. This time, the Daishonin wrote a letter
to Munenaga telling him that he should not discard his faith
just to curry favor with his father and win an inheritance,
but that he should continue his faith until his father became
a believer. The Daishonin's advice was heeded, and Yasumitsu
became a believer in 1278. He died shortly after.
Nichiren Daishonin wrote many important treatises during
the period from 1274 to 1278, including "On
the Buddha's Behavior" (MW-1, 173202) in which
he described the events from Tatsunokuchi until his retirement
to Minobu. "The
Selection of the Time" (MW-3, 79-184) noted that
the most essential requirement is to understand the time
and which teaching befits it. "Teaching,
Practice and Proof" (MW-4, 11132) said that Shakyamuni's
teachings have become inappropriate in the Latter Day of
the Law and that only Nam-myoho-renge-kyo taught by the
Daishonin combines the three elements of teaching, practice
and proof essential to making Buddhism viable.
On hearing that Dozen-bo had died, Nichiren Daishonin wrote
"Repaying
Debts of Gratitude." In this he said that he was
repaying his debt to his teacher, whom he had left at an
early age, by spreading the true teaching to save all people.
He wrote, in explanation of the doctrine he taught:
First, in Japan and all the other countries throughout
the world, the object of worship should in all cases be
the Lord Shakyamuni of true Buddhism.10
The Shakyamuni Buddha and Taho Buddha who appear in the
Treasure Tower, as well as all other Buddhas, along with
the four bodhisattvas11 including
Jogyo, shall act as attendants to this Buddha. Second,
there is the high sanctuary of true Buddhism. Third, in
Japan, China, India and all the other countries of the
world, every person, regardless of whether he is wise
or foolish, shall set aside other practices and join in
the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. (MW-4,271)
There was a constant stream of visitors at the Daishonin's
cottage, including Abutsu-bo who, despite his advanced age,
made the hazardous journey from Sado Island at least three
times. Other followers came as well, but the Daishonin seems
to have spent most of his time training the youths who were
entering the priesthood from the families of lay believers.
One of these, who hailed from the Nitta family, which was
related to the Nagoe family, became the Daishonin's disciple
in 1276. He was seventeen at the time; he went on to become
the third high priest, Nichimoku Shonin.
As a way of fostering the faith of these disciples, Nichiren
Daishonin gave a series of lectures on the Lotus Sutra,
using as his reference material the major works of the Great
Teacher T'ien-t'ai. The series began with a lecture on Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
and they proceeded through each of the twenty-eight chapters
of the Lotus Sutra. When it was completed, it was set down
as the "Ongi Kuden" (Record of the Orally Transmitted
Teachings) by Nikko Shonin. The Daishonin himself revised
and edited the manuscripts, and they appeared in their final
form in January 1278.
Thus, the Daishonin spent a fruitful four years following
his frustrated attempt to convince Hei no Saemon of the
validity of his predictions and teachings. In those four
years, he had not budged from Mount Minobu despite his earlier
hesitation about staying. Now, as the lay believers grew
more determined in their propagation activities the Daishonin
saw that the time was rapidly approaching when he would
have the chance to fulfill the purpose of his life. He would
not have to wait long, for the next year the opportunity
arose.
Chapter 11 (pp.
90-96):
Inscription of the True Object of Worship
From the moment he declared the essence of Buddhism, he
had been hunted and hounded almost to the point of death.
Two disciples had died in the process Kudo Yoshitaka and
Kyonin-bo at Komatsubara-but the Daishonin had always been
the prime target. Now in their zeal to spread the Daishonin's
Buddhism, his followers were beginning to feel the brunt
of official persecution. A confrontation was in the making.
In his retirement, the Daishonin was attended by Nikko
Shonin, who had accompanied him throughout the years since
their meeting at Jisso-ji temple. Being a native of the
Minobu region, Nikko Shonin would spend much of his time
in the neighboring villages converting friends and relatives.
On the days that the Daishonin would give lectures, he would
hurry back. He was particularly active at Shijuku-in temple
in Suruga Province, where he was registered as a priest.
He converted several of the resident priests, including
Nichiji, who later became one of the six seniors. Nikko
Shonin's success at proselytizing quickly drew the suspicious
eye of the temple's administrator Gon'yo, who petitioned
the government in 1278 to have Nikko Shonin and the others
expelled on the grounds that they were spreading heresy.
Nichiren Daishonin wrote an appeal calling for a debate
to settle the issue, but it was ignored.
Nikko Shonin moved on to the Tendai temple Ryusen-ji in
Atsuhara Village in the Fuji area of Suruga. His efforts
again won him converts among the priests, and, what was
more significant, among the local farmer population as well.
And once again his actions drew the ire of temple officials,
this time in the person of Gyochi, deputy chief priest.
Gyochi demanded that Nichiren, Nisshu and Nichizen, who
had converted and been renamed, as well as Mikawa-bo Raien,
who had also taken faith, write an oath to discard their
faith in the Lotus Sutra and begin reciting the Amida Sutra
again. Only Mikawa-bo Raien agreed. Gyochi then demanded
that the other three leave the temple. Nichizen did; the
others stayed.
In addition to the growing number of farmer believers,
Nanjo Tokimitsu, the steward of Ueno Village, under Nikko
Shonin's direction, had begun converting his immediate family
and relatives. Gyochi grew furious at the success of the
Daishonin's Buddhism in attracting believers in the Atsuhara
area, and he started venting his anger on laymen as well
as priests. In April 1279, Gyochi conspired to harm a lay
believer, and in August a believer by the name of Yashiro,
who had been converted by Nisshu, was decapitated for unknown
reasons.
The situation became critical on September 21 when the
government arrested twenty farmer believers who were harvesting
rice from Nisshu's fields on the temple grounds. The arrest
had been requested by Gyochi, who claimed the farmers not
only were harvesting rice that did not belong to Nisshu,
whom Gyochi had told to leave, but also had descended on
the deputy chief priest's lodging, armed and angry the farmers
were taken to Kamakura and detained for trial.
Nichiren Daishonin, sensing the gravity of the situation,
sent a letter on October 1 "to the people there”
meaning the imprisoned farmers and other lay believers in
Kamakura facing persecution in the wake of the Atsuhara
incident. He advised them to use the persecutions to deepen
their faith. "Strengthen your faith day by day and
month after month," he said. "Should you slacken
even a bit, demons will take advantage" (MW-1, 241-42).
Meanwhile, Nikko Shonin drafted an urgent appeal to Hei
no Saemon who had taken charge of the farmers. The appeal
was written in part by the Daishonin, but it was of little
avail. First, Hei no Saemon had the lay believers tortured.
Then, on October 15, after they had steadily refused to
give up their faith in the Daishonin's Buddhism, he had
three of the believers-the brothers Jinshiro, Yagoro and
Yarokuro-summarily executed. Even so, the others refused
to recant.
Nikko Shonin immediately sent word of the executions to
the Daishonin, who received the letter two days later, on
the seventeenth. He wrote back that it "is something
extraordinary that they chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo at the
time of execution" (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1455).
His letter of October 1, written in the midst of the persecution
and entitled "On
Persecutions Befalling the Buddha," proved to be
more than just an attempt to encourage his lay followers;
it was also a proclamation of the purpose of his life. He
wrote:
Now in the second year of Koan (1279) it is twenty-seven
years since I first proclaimed the true teaching at Seicho-ji
temple. It was noon on the twenty-eighth day of the fourth
month in the fifth year of Kencho (1253),... The Buddha
fulfilled the purpose of his advent in a little over forty
years; T'ien-t'ai took about thirty years, and Dengyo,
some twenty years. I have repeatedly spoken of the indescribable
persecutions they suffered during those years. For me
it took twenty-seven years, and the persecutions I faced
during this period are well known to you all. (MW-1, 239)
"For me it took twenty-seven years" was the Daishonin's
reference to the fulfillment of his lifelong purpose. He
did not just mean that his followers were now actively pursuing
his will to spread his Buddhism, but something far greater.
In the perspective that history allows, it is clear that
he was referring to the inscription of the Dai Gohonzon
which would take place eleven days later.
Though he greatly cared for his followers and did not want
to see any of them harmed, Nichiren Daishonin deemed it
extremely meaningful that they now showed a steadfastness
of faith that had been lacking during the Tatsunokuchi and
Sado persecutions. Then, many of them had wavered; now they
showed they were willing even to die for their beliefs.
To the Daishonin, the crucial factor in his being able to
inscribe a universal object of worship had been fulfilled.
Before, he had bestowed Gohonzon only on those with the
staunchest faith; now that staunch faith was the rule rather
than the exception, he could bestow the Dai-Gohonzon (dai
in Japanese means supreme or great) upon all humanity. This
he did on October 12,1279.
The writings of Nichiren Daishonin, especially "The
Opening of the Eyes" and "The
True Object of Worship," had led him step by step
to that inscription. In one of his orally transmitted teachings,
the Daishonin said that he had seen his life reflected in
a pond at Seicho-ji temple as "the great mandala."12
Thus, the image of the object he was to inscribe was clearly
in his mind even before he actually gave it concrete form.
What is the Dai-Gohonzon? Down the center the Dai Gohonzon
contains the inscription, "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nichiren,"
referring to the fusion of the Law of life and the original
Buddha. On both sides of this are the representatives of
the ten worlds, indicating the aspects of ichinen sanzen.
By this graphic arrangement, the Daishonin showed that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
is the true entity of all phenomena. At the top of the ten
worlds stands Buddhahood, at the bottom the condition of
Hell. All are essential to life, but the way to bring them
into perspective and release their full creativity is through
the supreme Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which, when invoked,
allows a person to take complete charge of his or her life.
In the lower left-hand comer of the Dai-Gohonzon is a dedication
to a fictional lay believer, who represents the common people
of the world at last able to realize their own Buddha nature.
On the right are the words, ichiembudai soyo-"bestowed
upon the entire world." So, far from being an individual
Gohonzon, the Dai-Gohonzon is a gift to all people for all
time, i.e., the fundamental principle for them to wrest
control of their destinies and create peace and prosperity.
The Daishonin once said that he had "inscribed my
life in sumi [ink]." By this, he meant that he had
embodied his state of Buddhahood in the mandala and that
the purpose of his life lay in that mandala; it was his
legacy. In the case of the Dai-Gohonzon, however, the Daishonin
took extra precaution to insure its survival. He inscribed
it in ink on a plank of camphor wood and had his disciple
Nippo carve the characters into the wood so that it would
last, as traditionally said, "for ten millennia or
more."
Believers who visited Nichiren Daishonin at Minobu would
invariably pray to the Dai-Gohonzon. When they sent offerings
to the Daishonin, he would write back, "I have respectfully
placed them in front of the Lotus Sutra," by which
he meant he had placed them in front of the Dai Gohonzon
enshrined in the main temple at Minobu. The Daishonin himself
recited the Hoben [Expedient Means] (second) and Juryo (sixteenth)
[Life Span] chapters of the Lotus Sutra and chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
in front of this object of worship.
The government eventually relented in the face of the farmers'
steady faith and the pleas of Nikko Shonin and Nichiren
Daishonin, and thus the worst phase of the Atsuhara Persecution
drew to a close at the same time that the year 1279 neared
its end. Twenty-seven years after the establishment of his
Buddhism, the Daishonin completed the task of laying the
foundation for the peace of the world in the Latter Day
of the Law. Though only few knew of the inscription of the
Dai Gohonzon at the time, the Daishonin, remaining at Mount
Minobu, took steps to insure its preservation for all time.
To that task, and to the care of his beloved followers,
he devoted the remainder of his life.
Chapter 12 (pp.
97-110):
Transferring the Heritage
Even as the Atsuhara persecution was taking place, Shijo
Kingo was getting into difficulties again in Kamakura. The
Daishonin had repeatedly warned him not to be boastful or
arrogant and to take every precaution lest his jealous comrades
in Lord Ema's employ attack him in the middle of the night,
but that was exactly what happened. The skilled Kingo drove
them off, news of which prompted the Daishonin to write
him again. He said:
It is a matter of rejoicing that your usual prudence
and courage, as well as your firm faith in the Lotus Sutra,
enabled you to survive unharmed.
When one comes to the end of his good fortune, no strategy
whatsoever will avail. When one's blessings are exhausted,
even his retainers will no longer follow him. You survived
because you still possess good fortune. Moreover, in the
Zokurui chapter, the heavenly gods pledged to protect
the votary of the Lotus Sutra.... Never doubt that all
gods protect those who embrace the Lotus Sutra.... Therefore,
you must summon up the power of faith more than ever.
(MW-1, 245-46)
Nanjo Tokimitsu soon fell into disfavor with the government
for having protected many of the farmer believers who might
otherwise have been rounded up and detained during the Atsuhara
incident. The year after the persecution, the Hojo regime
had the taxes on Tokimitsu's estate raised to the point
of nearly forcing him into destitution: Tokimitsu had to
pay so much that he could not even afford a horse.
Seeing the difficulty that his samurai follower was undergoing
and seeing also that his faith was not being shaken in the
least, Nichiren Daishonin wrote a letter of praise to Tokimitsu
and gave him the title of Ueno the Wise. One of his letters
to Tokimitsu. delineated two types of faith-one that is
temporarily as brilliant as fire but soon lapses, and one
that continues onward like the flow of a river:
Today there are people who have faith in the Lotus Sutra.
The belief of some is like a fire while that of others
is like water. When the former listen to the teachings,
their passion flares up like fire, but when by themselves,
they are inclined to discard their faith. To have faith
like water means to believe continuously without ever
regressing. Since you pay frequent visits to me regardless
of the difficulties, your belief is comparable to flowing
water. It is worthy of great respect! (MW-2,296)
The Daishonin during his later years seems to have been
most involved in training the young priests who had come
to Mount Minobu. to learn Buddhism. Most outstanding among
them was Renzo-bo Nichimoku, later to become the third high
priest. He was barely twenty years old at the time of the
inscription of the Dai-Gohonzon, but already he had been
a believer and a resident at Minobu for three years. Legend
has it that each day Nichimoku would descend the mountain
slopes for a bucket of water. On the way back up, he would
carry the bucket on his head. After years of doing so, he
found that the top of his head had developed a depression
where the bucket rested on it.
Lay followers like Shijo Kingo, Nanjo Tokimitsu, Toki Jonin,
Soya Kyoshin and Ota Jomyo continued to make visits to Mount
Minobu, but the journey that the aged Abutsu-bo made in
1278 appears to have been his last. He died in March 1279
at the age of ninety-one. In a letter addressed to his wife,
Sennichi-ama the Daishonin wrote: "Some may wonder
where the spirit of the late Abutsu-bo may be at this moment.
But by using the bright mirror of the Lotus Sutra to reflect
his image, I Nichiren, can see him among the assembly on
Eagle Peak, seated within the Treasure Tower of Taho Buddha
and facing toward the east, [toward the Buddhas Shakyamuni
and Taho]" (MW-6,297).
Abutsu-Bo had bequeathed his legacy of faith to
his son, Tokuro Moritsuna, and on July 2, 1279, the son
brought Abutsu-bo's ashes to be laid to rest at Mount Minobu.
The son came again the next year to pay homage to his father's
grave.
The Daishonin's writings in the last years of his life
contained no new or lengthy revelations, being mostly letters
of encouragement to lay believers. Among them, however,
were some important works which elucidated the Daishonin's
Buddhism. "The Ultimate Teaching Affirmed by All Buddhas
throughout the Three Existences," addressed to Sairen-bo
in October 1279, and "On the Three Great Secret Laws,"
given to Ota Jomyo on April 8, 1282, remain indispensable
to the study of his thought.
In "The Ultimate Teaching Affirmed by All Buddhas
throughout the Three Existences," Nichiren Daishonin
said that all the earlier teachings of Shakyamuni were but
steps leading to the great revelations of the Lotus Sutra,
the true and essential teaching affirmed by all the Buddhas.
He added, however, that this true teaching came to life
only within the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin.
"On the Three Great Secret Laws" provided him
with an opportunity to define the substance of the true
teaching handed down to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth in
the Jinriki [Supernatural Powers of the Thus Come One] (twenty-first)
chapter of the Lotus Sutra. He said it consisted of the
Three Great Secret Laws which the Daishonin had revealed
during his lifetime-the object of worship, the invocation
and the sanctuary. He wrote in part:
These Three Great Secret Laws 1, Nichiren, have certainly
inherited directly from Shakyamuni Buddha, the World-Honored
One of Great Enlightenment and the lord of teachings,
in person as the head of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth
more than two thousand years ago. What 1, Nichiren, am
doing now does not deviate in the slightest from the bequeathal
that took place at Eagle Peak, nor does it differ from
the actual phase of the three great principles gleaned
from the Juryo chapter. (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1023)
He explained these three laws. He said: (1) the object
of worship means the Buddha of absolute freedom who has
existed since time without beginning; (2) the invocation
refers to the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo for both oneself
and others (in contrast to the self-oriented practice taught
by T'ien-t'ai and his followers); and (3) the high sanctuary
should be built in a place of magnificent beauty, like the
pure land of Eagle Peak.
It was this last, the construction of a sanctuary, which
would insure the survival of the Dai-Gohonzon-coupled with
the pure flow of the Daishonin's teachings throughout the
future. Of course, his training of disciples was meant to
guarantee the latter, but even the Daishonin lamented that
the seeking spirit was lapsing in places away from Mount
Minobu. His health deteriorating, the Daishonin could do
nothing outside the confines of his center at Minobu.
Meanwhile, the Mongols attempted another invasion of Japan
in 1281. This time the forces came in even more massive
and awesome numbers: 140,000 Mongol and Korean troops, and
more than 4,000 battleships. The strategy was the same-to
land in Kyushu, take the government headquarters at Dazaifu
and sweep northward to engulf the entire country.
The Japanese had been preparing for a second invasion for
years. Around 1276 the government enjoined the samurai to
build stone ramparts along the coast of northern Kyushu
and to drive piles into the sea to prevent the Mongol battleships
from landing. Some warriors grew so anxious that they gathered
at Hakata hoping to invade Korea, but this plan never materialized.
In July 1279 the Mongols dispatched envoys again, but they,
too, were beheaded.
The stage was set for a massive confrontation. The first
wave of 40,000 troops left Korea and quickly overran Tsushima
and lid islands in May They were supposed to rendezvous
with another force of 100,000 men sailing from southern
China and together descend on Kyushu, as in the previous
invasion. But the troops from China were delayed, and the
stone ramparts prevented the first force from entering the
bay at Hakata. The groups joined up in June, but before
they could organize a full-scale invasion a terrible storm
struck on the night of July 30. All but about two hundred
of the warships were sunk; only about one-fifth of the troops
were able to return home.
Though nature had once again turned back the invaders,
the cost to Japan was tremendous. The warriors entrusted
with the task of defending the homeland had to raise so
much money that many were forced to sell their fiefs. As
a result, the system by which the Kamakura government bought
the warriors' support by granting them fiefs was undermined,
and the Kamakura regime itself was destined to an early
death.
If Nichiren Daishonin wrote any comments on the second
invasion, they have not survived the centuries. At any rate,
by 1281, the Daishonin's health was already declining rapidly,
and he found it increasingly difficult to carry on the many
activities to which he had grown accustomed, including the
writing of letters.
In the best of times, the area around Mount Minobu was
never very warm, and a minor glacial epoch in the thirteenth
century made the conditions even worse. It was bitingly
cold. Food was another problem. Following the custom of
Buddhist monks in those days, the Daishonin abstained from
eating fish and meat, and the food provided by his disciples
and believers did not render all the nutrition he needed.
In addition, from 1277 through 1278 he was bothered by chronic
diarrhea. In a letter he wrote to Shijo Kingo in October
(intercalary) 1278, he reported:
1, Nichiren, am not as healthy as others, and in addition,
I dwell in this remote mountain forest. This year was
especially difficult, with widespread epidemics and famine
in spring and summer, which worsened in autumn and winter.
My sickness grew worse again, too, but you prescribed
various medicines and sent them to me along with quilted
silk clothes. Thanks to your remedies, I improved steadily;
I have now recovered and feel much better than before.
(MW-1, 225)
The cure evidently did not last long, for in November 1281
he wrote Ikegami Munenaga that the diarrhea had returned.
By this time, the Daishonin knew that he could not live
much longer. As early as the previous May he had written
the Ikegami brothers of his condition, saying:
Already I have been expounding this doctrine for no less
than twenty-nine years. The past seven or eight years
my strength has ebbed markedly with each year and I have
suffered from illness, perhaps because my body has been
weakened and my mind exhausted by the debates in which
I have engaged daily, the persecutions which have assailed
me every month, and the two exiles to which I have been
subjected. Still, I have been able to survive until now.
Since the first month of this year, however, I have felt
fatigued and ill, and it now seems that my life is drawing
to a dose. In addition, I have already reached the age
of sixty. If, with one chance out of ten, I were somehow
able to make it through this year, I do not know how it
would be possible to survive the following year or two.
(Gosho Zenshu, p. 1105)
In December, he wrote the mother of Nanjo Tokimitsu, lamenting,
"I have never taken a step out of this mountain forest
from the seventeenth day of the sixth month in the eleventh
year of Bun'ei (1274), when I retired here, through the
eighth day of the twelfth month this year" (Ibid.,
p. 1583) In January 1282 he wrote a letter to Nanjo Tokimitsu,
thanking him for his gifts of rice and noting:
Thin are the garments I wear and sparse the food I have,
and I am no better than the Kankucho bird [which is tortured
by the cold in the Snow Mountains] during the night. In
the daytime I can never even for a single moment contain
my desire to go down to the village. The voice reciting
the sutra has all but ceased and the seeking spirit has
faltered. (Ibid., p. 1585)
When spring came in 1282, the warm weather enabled the
Daishonin to regain his health. He wrote that he felt like
he had "captured a tiger" and was "riding
a hon." His vitality returned, but he and his disciples
knew that it would last only until autumn. As summer waned,
he was urged to go to the hot springs at Hitachi (presently
Ibaraki Prefecture), and he accepted the advice. Before
setting out on September 8, he wrote the "Document
for Entrusting the Law That Nichiren Propagated throughout
his Life." In this he named Nikko Shonin as his legitimate
successor:
I Nichiren, transfer all of the teachings I have propagated
throughout my life to Byakuren Ajari Nikko, who should
be the supreme leader for propagating true Buddhism. When
the sovereign accepts this Law, the high sanctuary of
Hommon-ji temple should be erected at the foot of Mount
Fuji. Simply wait for the time to come. This is the actual
high sanctuary of true Buddhism. Above all, my disciples
should observe this document.
The ninth month of the fifth year of Koan (1282), cyclical
sign mizunoe-uma.--Nichiren
The order of heritage: from Nichiren to Nikko (Gosho
Zenshu, p. 1600)
Thus, the Daishonin ensured the perpetuation of his teachings
in their entirety. He also named the place where the sanctuary
should be constructed, whereas before he had only said a
spot of great splendor. As for his successor, it appears
that by 1280 or earlier he had already decided upon Nikko
Shonin. In 1280, he had transferred his document, "The
Hundred and Six Comparisons," to Nikko Shonin, proclaiming:
"As the teacher of the True Cause13
[and the teacher of the Buddhism of sowing], I, Nichiren,
hereby respectfully incorporate my teachings in this writing
and transfer it to my immediate disciple, Nikko, [who is
to save the people of the Latter Day of the Law for ten
thousand years and more into the future]" (Gosho
Zenshu, p. 854).
The central message of this document was the declaration
that the Buddhism of sowing, or the Buddhism which implants
the seed of Buddhahood in the lives of all people, is the
highest form of Buddhism.
After leaving Mount Minobu, Nichiren Daishonin traveled
northward around Mount Fuji and, sensing that death was
imminent, shunned the hot springs in favor of a trip to
the home of Ikegami Munenaka. in which is presently Ota
Ward of Metropolitan Tokyo. There he took final measures
to ensure the perpetuity of his teachings. On October 8,
he named six priests as seniors. They were Nissho, Nichiro,
Nikko, Niko, Nitcho and Nichiji. On October 13, he drafted
a second transfer document, called the "Document for
Entrusting Minobu-san." He declared:
I transfer Shakyamuni Buddha's teachings of fifty years
to Byakuren Ajari Nikko, who should become the chief priest
of Minobu-san Kuon-ji temple. Those priests and lay believers
who disregard this will be slanderers of the Law.
The thirteenth day of the tenth month in the fifth year
of Koan (1282), cyclical sign mizunoe-uma
At Ikegami Musashi Province Nichiren (Gosho Zenshu,
p. 1600)
It was the last thing he would ever write. As he and his
disciples chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nichiren Daishonin
breathed his last early on the same morning, October 13,
1282, three years and one day after the inscription of the
Dai-Gohonzon.
Hearing the news, disciples and followers rushed to the
Ikegami residence, where the Daishonin's body had been placed
in a coffin. The next evening at eight o'clock, a formal
funeral was conducted. At midnight, everyone bid farewell
to their revered master and committed his body to cremation.
As an expression of utmost respect, a funeral procession
was held in the manner befitting a deceased worthy samurai,
with the lay believers taking virtual charge.
A life of passionate commitment to the welfare and happiness
of all humanity had come to a close after sixty-one years,
but Nichiren Daishonin lived on-in the hearts of his disciples
and followers, in the teachings he left behind, in the Dai-Gohonzon
he bestowed upon all humanity throughout the world and in
the gratitude of the millions of people who would find solace
and fulfillment through the practice of his teachings in
the Latter Day of the Law. His life and achievements proved
to be in accord with the stanzas of eternity which conclude
the Juryo (sixteenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra:
Because of the befuddlement of ordinary
people,
though I live, I give out word I have entered extinction.
For if they see me constantly,
arrogance and selfishness arise in their minds.
Abandoning restraint, they give themselves up to the five
desires14
and fall into the evil paths of existence.
Always I am aware of which living beings
practice the way, and which do not,
and in response to their needs for salvation
I preach various doctrines for them.
At all times I think to myself:
how can I cause living beings
to gain entry into the unsurpassed way
and quickly acquire the body
of a Buddha?
(The Lotus Sutra, pp. 231-32)
Chapter 13 (pp.
111-115):
Epilogue
As the legitimate successor of Nichiren Daishonin, Nikko
Shonin inherited the totality of the Daishonin's teachings.
He and his disciples carried the Daishonin's ashes to Minobu
to fulfill their master's desire that his ashes would rest
there. On January 23, one hundred days after the Daishonin's
death, his ashes were placed in a small temple built especially
for their repose.
Eighteen representatives, including the six seniors, were
to take turns watching over the Daishonin's ashes and studying
the Daishonin's commentary on the sutra there. But all failed
to do so except Nikko Shonin and his immediate disciples.
After the death of the Daishonin, the five seniors, other
than Nikko Shonin, had returned to their various regions
of responsibility and begun extending their influence: Nissho
in Kamakura, Nichiro in Kamakura and Ikegami, Niko in Boso
territory (presently Chiba Prefecture), Nitcho around the
residence of Toki Jonin, and Nichiji in the area that is
presently Shizuoka Prefecture.
Although he had devoted the last few years of his life
to training disciples, Nichiren Daishonin had actually been
able to spend little time with the senior priests, except
for Nikko Shonin; they were too valuable as central figures
for propagation in the various territories. Consequently,
they knew little of the Daishonin's ultimate teachings or
of the purpose of his life. They began to feel that the
Daishonin had only taught a form of Tendai Buddhism, so
they sent their disciples to Mount Hiei, center of the Tendai
sect. They discarded the object of worship, the Gohonzon,
in favor of images of Shakyamuni Buddha, totally misreading
the Daishonin's intention to save people through faith in
the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as embodied by the Daishonin
himself. They even destroyed many of his letters and treatises
that were not written in classical Chinese, for they felt
them to be uncultured and a disgrace to their deceased master.
Nikko Shonin, only thirty-six years old when the Daishonin
died, grew increasingly concerned. He was more than happy
when Niko came to Mount Minobu in 1285, and he appointed
him chief instructor of the priests. But Niko soon showed
his true colors. Under his influence, Hakiri Sanenaga, the
steward of the Minobu area, committed what are called the
four slanderous acts: He commissioned a statue of Shakyamuni,
made pilgrimages to Shinto shrines, donated a tract of land
for the construction of a Nembutsu monument, and even had
a Nembutsu seminary built. Nikko Shonin strictly warned
Niko and Lord Hakiri about the nature of these acts, but
to no avail. He recalled the words of the Daishonin's will
that should the steward of Minobu turn against his teachings,
the Daishonin's spirit would not remain there. Though Nikko
Shonin felt deep regret at having to leave Kuon-ji temple,
he also knew that the only way to answer his master's expectations
was to protect the true teachings of Buddhism and perpetuate
them for the sake of future generations. In 1289 he pronounced
Minobu to be a land heresy, and took the treasures of his
faith-the Dai-Gohonzon, the letters, treatises and ashes
of his master-and left. He stayed for a while at the residence
of his maternal grandfather in Kawai Village in Fuji District,
but he soon moved on to the estate of Nanjo Tokimitsu, steward
of Ueno Village in the same district. Lord Ueno offered
Nikko Shonin a tract of land called Oishigahara, located
northeast of his residence. as a temple site. In October
1290, Nikko Shonin's followers, with the help of Lord Ueno,
completed a building there called the Dai-bo, which was
hardly more than twenty-four square meters. And so,
with the construction of Dai-bo, Taiseki-ji temple was founded.
The site accorded with the Daishonin’s will that the
sanctuary of true Buddhism be constructed near the foot
of Mount Fuji.15
Nikko Shonin continued work actively, lecturing on important
writings such as the "Rissho
Ankoku. Ron," collecting and copying the Daishonin's
works, promoting his teachings and instructing disciples
and followers-whom he charged with the task of propagation
after his death. All his efforts were aimed at ensuring
the eternal prosperity and perpetuation of Nichiren Daishonin's
Buddhism.
He stated in his "Gonin Shoha Sho" (On Refuting
the Five Priests): "Just as the Sanskrit texts have
already been translated and introduced into China and Japan
for the sake of propagation when the Buddhism of India spread
eastward, so should the Japanese be rendered into Sanskrit
and Chinese for the sake of transmission when the day comes
for the sacred teachings of this country Japan to spread
far and wide" (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1613). (Sanskrit
is an Indo-European language and thus, in a broader sense,
here represents Western languages as a whole.)
Shortly before his passing, Nikko Shonin wrote the "Nikko
yuikai okimon" (Twenty-six Admonitions of Nikko); his
purpose was to protect the purity of the Daishonin's teachings
and to convey a correct understanding of the Daishonin's
intention. Nikko Shonin summed up the Daishonin's will for
the future in admonition number thirteen: "Until kosen-rufu
is achieved, propagate the Law to the full extent of your
ability without begrudging your life" (Gosho Zenshu,
p. 1618). He then transferred the entirety of the Daishonin's
teachings to his lineal successor, Nichimoku Shonin, and
passed away at the age of eighty-eight.
The flow of Buddhism, which originated with Shakyamuni
Buddha, reached its culmination with the advent of Nichiren
Daishonin. His establishment of the supreme teachings of
Buddhism has generated a fresh movement toward the far-reaching
goal of attaining kosen-rufu, or world peace and the happiness
of all humanity throughout time.
Glossary
1. Kukai (774-835): The founder of the
Shingon sect in Japan. His posthumous name and title are
the Great Teacher Kobo. While denouncing the Lotus Sutra
he asserted the supremacy of the Dainichi Sutra over all
other sutras.
2. Shotoku (574-622): The second son of
Emperor Yomei and the regent during the reign of Empress
Suiko. He is best known for his application of the spirit
of Buddhism to government.
3. In the Japanese edition of Nichiren Daishonin's
writings called the Gosho Zenshu, these early works
are not included because they were written simply to organize
the knowledge he had gained through his studies.
4. Jogyo: The leader of the Bodhisattvas
of the Earth who appear in the Yujutsu [Emerging from the
Earth] (15th) chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Shakyamuni transfers
the essence of the sutra to Bodhisattva Jogyo in the Jinriki
[Entrustment] (21st) chapter entrusting him with its propagation
in the Latter Day of the Law Jogyo is a provisional entity
of the original Buddha of kuon ganjo.
5. Vasubandhu (4th or 5th century) and Nagarjuna
(2nd or 3rd century): Indian Mahayana scholars. Vasubandhu.
criticized Mahayana but later converted to it at his older
brother Asanga's urging. He wrote many treatises clarifying
the Mahayana teachings. Nagarjuna mastered Hinayana [Theraveda
Buddhism but later he devoted himself to the study and propagation
of Mahayana Buddhism. He wrote many treatises concerning
Mahayana-
6. Ceremony in the Air: The second of the
three assemblies described in the Lotus Sutra in which the
entire gathering floats in space. The ceremony continues
from the Hoto [The Emergence of the Treasure Tower] (11th)
to the Zokurui [Entrustment] (22nd) chapter. During the
ceremony Shakyamuni reveals his original enlightenment in
the remote past and transfers the essence of the sutra to
the Bodhisattvas of the Earth led by Jogyo.
7. ichinen sanzen: A philosophical
system that T’ien-t’ai set forth based on the
Lotus Sutra. It clarifies the mutually inclusive relationship
of the ultimate truth and the phenomenal world. ichinen
is the life that is manifest at each moment and sanzen
(three thousand) the varying aspects and phases it assumes.
Both a theoretical and an actual ichinen sanzen exist.
Theoretical ichinen sanzen refers to the life of
the common mortals of the nine worlds and actual ichinen
sanzen to the life of the Buddha. Nichiren Daishonin
embodied actual ichinen sanzen-the life of the Buddha
in the concrete form of the Gohonzon.
8. kuon gango: Defined as the infinite
past in contrast with a specific point in time indicated
by the distant past of gohyaku jintengo. Kuon
ganjo is an expression suggesting a dimension that is
outside the temporal framework and that has neither beginning
nor end. The "original Buddha of kuon ganjo"
means the Buddha who has been enlightened since time without
beginning.
9. Nan-yueh (515-577): T’ien-t’ai’s
teacher. He dedicated his entire life to the practice of
the Lotus Sutra and for this reason suffered many persecutions.
10. Lord Shakyamuni of true Buddhism: The
Buddha of the teaching indicated in the depths of the Lotus
Sutra, who appeared as Nichiren Daishonin in the Latter
Day of the Law and expounded the ultimate Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
11. Four Bodhisattvas: Jogyo, Muhengyo,
Jyogyo and Anryugyo. They are the leaders of the Bodhisattvas
of the Earth described in the Yujutsu [Emerging from the
Earth] (15th) chapter of the Lotus Sutra.
12. Fuji shugaku yoshu (Selected
Works of the Fuji School), vol. 1, pp. 32-33.
13. Teacher of the True Cause: Another
name for the Buddha of kuon ganjo. Although Shakyamuni
revealed his enlightenment in the remote past of gohyaku-jintengo,
he did not clarify the cause that led him to Buddhahood.
The original cause for the enlightenment of all living beings
is the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. The Buddha who directly
reveals and himself embodies the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
is called the Buddha of kuon ganjo, that is, Nichiren Daishonin.
His Buddhism is called the "Buddhism of sowing"
because it plants the original seed of Buddhahood in the
lives of all people.
14. Five desires: Here, earthly desires
stimulated by the five sensory organs: eyes, ears, nose,
tongue and skin.
15. The Sho-Hondo (Grand Main Temple) was
completed in 1972 approximately 700 years after the Daishonin
passed away, the result of the initiative and leadership
of Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International,
and of donations from more than 7.5 million Soka Gakkai
members. The Dai-Gohonzon is enshrined within it.
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