SGI-USA Study Curriculum

Learning from the Gosho: The Eternal Teachings of Nichiren Daishonin
by SGI President Ikeda

Lecture 11 - Letter to the Mother of Oto Gozen (1)

A Person of Genuine Faith Shines When Faced With Great Obstacles

It was a miraculous journey: a woman traveling all the way from Kamakura to Sado Island with her small child in tow. Going over passes, climbing mountains, crossing the sea, she appeared breathlessly before Nichiren Daishonin in his place of exile.

"It was almost too amazing to be true" (The Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 3, p. 197), the Daishonin says. At this unexpected appearance of one of his Kamakura followers, the Daishonin probably doubted his own eyes. To a place where no visitors came, here was one --- and it was a woman with a small child!

His initial surprise soon turned to profound concern. "How was your journey?" he asked. "Did you have any trouble on the way? Is your child all right? Seeing you is the most wonderful thing. Nothing could make me happier."

The woman was a person of wholehearted faith. And doubtless she had deeply cherished the determination to see the Daishonin on Sado. "I cannot just sit idly by at this time when the Daishonin is battling great persecution," she probably felt. She must have wanted to do anything she could to lighten his burden even a little.

This letter to the mother of Oto Gozen (1) the name of the young child, praises a mother of seeking spirit who, seven centuries ago, single-mindedly advanced one step at a time in the footsteps of her mentor.

The letter is dated only Nov. 3, but recent research supports the view that it was written at Sado in 1273.

In May the previous year, the Daishonin wrote the "Letter to Nichimyo Shonin" (MW-3, 43-53). That letter also was to a woman who, like Oto Gozen's mother, had traveled from Kamakura to visit the Daishonin at Sado with a young child. The Daishonin praises the woman highly, even giving her the Buddhist name Nichimyo Shonin.

It is generally believed today that Nichimyo Shonin and the mother of Oto Gozen were the same person. This lecture is based on that assumption.

To the mother of Oto Gozen:

Since you revere the Lotus Sutra, you are a woman who is certain to become a Buddha. [Therefore] although in my present circumstances I am ill disposed to write, (2) I send you letters frequently. Also, I understand that you are looking after the disciples [in Kamakura]. I cannot thank you enough. (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1222)

"If you cannot become a Buddha," he is saying in effect, "then who can?" "If you cannot become happy, then what is the purpose of Buddhism?" This question contains the Daishonin's spirit.

It is in times of adversity that we understand a person's true worth. The actions of Oto Gozen's mother, Nichimyo Shonin, at the height of great persecution in which "999 out of 1,000 discarded their faith" (MW-3, 69), shine eternally. She is an eternal model for women throughout the 10,000 years and more of the Latter Day of the Law.

In the fall of 1271, when the Daishonin was nearly beheaded at Tatsunokuchi and then exiled to Sado Island, there also raged a storm of persecution against his followers. Some were incarcerated, some had their lands confiscated and some were driven out of Kamakura.

As a result of this wave of attacks, many of the Daishonin's disciples and lay followers abandoned their faith. Others, who perhaps did not formally give up their faith, were inwardly defeated. And some not only abandoned faith but also maliciously reviled the Daishonin.

Doubtless there were base people who betrayed their comrades and thought only of trying to protect themselves. In the end, such people wind up being trusted by no one. And, above all, they wind up unable to even trust themselves. Losing all support from both within and without, they meet pitiful ends.

But no storm, however great, could put out the fire that blazed in the life of the original Buddha. During his exile to Sado --- the greatest persecution of his life --- the Daishonin could say with imperturbable calm in "The Opening of the Eyes," "I, Nichiren, am the richest man in all of present-day Japan" (MW-2, 151). He succeeded in leaving behind a monumental achievement.

"The flame in my heart for the salvation of all people burns stronger still," he announces. "The Opening of the Eyes" is the Daishonin's declaration to all his followers of his spiritual victory. This "message of light" doubtless illuminated their hearts, when they were gritting their teeth in the face of great persecution and struggling to protect one another.

A small fire can easily be extinguished by a gust of wind. But with a large fire, it is just the opposite --- the stronger the wind, the higher, the more furiously it blazes. Great difficulties are a tailwind for the advance of kosen-rufu.

Shijo Kingo, to whom "The Opening of the Eyes" was entrusted, could not simply sit still in Kamakura. He struck out from the capital for Sado. And Oto Gozen's mother also undertook the journey. While an adverse wind raged throughout the land, she sought the Daishonin without a second thought for personal safety.

"How could you fail to attain Buddhahood?" (MW-3, 199), the Daishonin asks, praising her efforts to seek him out and somehow repay her debt of gratitude. "Right now, what can I do to help?" she probably wondered.

It also seems that she was diligently looking after the Daishonin's disciples in Kamakura. And the Daishonin was profoundly grateful. "I cannot thank you enough," he says. This passage conveys his sincerity.

In recent years, though, we have seen a great many arrogant priests who take for granted others' efforts on their behalf. These priests have betrayed the Daishonin.

Above all, your having come here, even though you are a woman, is an expression of your profound spirit of faith. Whereas in my case, I am only here because I was made to come. I feel immensely indebted. (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1222)

Nichimyo Shonin's actions were an expression of her earnest faith. What we set our hearts on determines everything.

She certainly did not have particularly favorable circumstances. It appears that she had been separated from her husband for some time. And her daughter Oto Gozen was still, in the Daishonin's words, an "infant" (MW-3, 53).

But taking her beloved child along, she set out on the journey. It was not uncommon at the time for women to travel alone. In contrast to the well maintained roads like the one between Kamakura and Kyoto, however, the route to Sado was a difficult one that entailed crossing both mountains and sea. It was a journey that could take even a strong man as long as three weeks.

We can get a sense of this journey's difficulty if we consider that the trip from Kamakura to Kyoto, a much longer distance, took about two weeks. Also, the stretch of sea that must be crossed to reach Sado is typically rough. People sometimes had to wait for several weeks for the waters to become calm enough to attempt a crossing. The journey by ship was an ordeal unimaginable by today's standards.

The Daishonin is not exaggerating when he describes it as a journey "over treacherous mountains and the raging sea." "The wind and rain," he adds, "make untimely onslaughts" (MW-3, 52).

What a difficult expedition it must have been for a woman with a small child ! She plodded along in the early summer heat, taking her daughter by the hand or perhaps carrying her on her back, and wearily wiping the sweat from her brow.

Your Spirit Determines Everything

Moreover, this was immediately after an incident of internal strife within the ruling Hojo clan. (3) There was much instability. The Daishonin says, "The people. . . are as bestial as dogs or tigers" (MW-3, 52). Also, the mountains were infested with bandits, and pirates lay in wait on the sea.

Many times, to avoid the night damp, the mother must have had to ask strangers to put them up for a night. There were probably also times when her daughter would not stop crying. Just thinking about it is heart wrenching. "You must have felt as though you were undergoing the sufferings of the three evil paths" (MW-3, 52), the Daishonin says. That's how difficult a journey it was --- but the mother was not defeated.

Why not? Because she was determined to walk the same path to Sado that the Daishonin had walked. She wanted to shoulder the same hardships as her mentor. How admirable! How beautiful and noble!

Faith makes people strong. And people of genuine faith shine the most when they encounter great difficulties. Certainly, it would seem better not to have obstacles. But from another standpoint, difficulties are benefits. It is by challenging and overcoming them that we can forge a character of pure and immutable "gold."

Even if all the leaves on a tree should fall off in a strong wind, as long as the branches and trunk remain intact, in time the tree will again produce flowers. Likewise, the spread of Buddhism will continue as long as there remain people of genuine faith. The important thing, therefore, is to raise one person of genuine faith.

The Daishonin praised the mother of Oto Gozen, saying, "You are undoubtedly the foremost votary of the Lotus Sutra among the women of Japan" (MW-3, 52). And he gave her the name Nichimyo Shonin.

Nichi is from Nichiren, meaning "sun," and myo is the first part of myoho, or "Mystic Law." He ads the honorific title Shonin, meaning "sage" or "saint." We see that distinctions between priestly and lay, male and female, did not matter in the least to Nichiren Daishonin; he fixed his gaze solely on people's hearts, their spirit.

Spirit means one's inner state of life, or heart. It decides what we devote our lives to. It is the fundamental prayer on which we base our existence. A person's spirit is invisible, but becomes manifest at a crucial moment. Not only that, it also controls everything about a person, each moment of every day -it is the fundamental determinant of one's life.

The Kegon Sutra says, "The heart is like a skilled painter." Like a great painter, the heart freely creates representations of all things. Your heart is the designer, the painter, the sculptor and the architect of your being.

The Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai cites this sutra passage in explaining the doctrine of a life-moment possessing 3,000 realms. He uses the image of a great painter to explain that the heart manifests in the 3,000 realms of all phenomena.

It is your spirit, your life-moment, that counts. Your spirit is your hopes, your prayers. And it can also be identified with the subconscious.

"What kind of future do I envision?" you may ask yourself. "What kind of self am I trying to develop? What do I want to accomplish in my life?" Paint this vision of your life in your heart as specifically as possible. This "painting" becomes the design for your future. The power of the heart enables you to actually execute a wonderful masterpiece in accordance with that design. This is the doctrine of a life-moment possessing 3,000 realms.

The more specific and detailed the blueprint we have in our hearts, the better. The point is to continue vividly painting the target we have and to advance toward that goal single-mindedly. Then, at each instant, the reality of our lives will gradually approach the painting that is our aspiration.

Everything depends on what is in our hearts. Heartfelt prayers will definitely be answered. If we decide that something is impossible, then, consistent with our minds in thinking so, even things possible will become impossible. On the other hand, if we have the confidence that we can definitely do something, we are already one step closer to achieving it.

In accordance with the principle of a life-moment possessing 3,000 realms, pessimistic thoughts or feelings take form, just as they are, in reality, producing negative results. People who have negative thoughts create effects for themselves that perfectly match their thinking.

So it is important to be optimistic. There is no such thing as pessimism in Buddhism. The Lotus Sutra gives us the key that enables us to possess great confidence and burn with hope even amid circumstances that appear despairing. Nichiren Daishonin proved this.

Amid the desolate conditions on Sado, the Daishonin says that he feels "great joy" (MW-2, 188). These words in fact conclude "The Opening of the Eyes."

In a letter to his follower Sairen-bo, which he also wrote on Sado, the Daishonin calmly promises, "Although the lord of Kamakura may continue to refuse to pardon Nichiren, I will call upon the heavenly deities, and I will return to Kamakura" (MW-7, 27). True to his words, the Daishonin triumphantly returned to Kamakura. His victory over incredible odds is proof of the principle of a life moment possessing 3,000 realms.

Above all, I am confident that the Daishonin's resolve for world kosen-rufu in the 10,000 years and more of the Latter Day was the cause that resulted in the appearance of the SGI and called forth Bodhisattvas of the Earth throughout the world.

The power of your heart is great. Nichimyo Shonin's heart was directed toward the Daishonin. And from the Daishonin, she learned to share the Lotus Sutra's ideal of all people becoming happy. She was determined to travel to far-off Sado, even though it meant crossing mountains and treacherous waters. I hope that each of you will steadfastly advance one step at a time toward a great ideal, walking along roads, traveling over mountains and crossing seas, as need be, to reach it.

The Daishonin says, "Even common mortals can attain Buddhahood if they cherish one thing; earnest faith" (MW-7, 268).

We need to direct our spirit, our heart, toward kosen-rufu. Attaining Buddhahood depends on cherishing such resolve. When we have such a spirit, our lives sparkle with jewels of good fortune and happiness. We undertake a wonderful journey through life in which our dreams, one after another, are accomplished.

(To be continued)

Notes:

1. "Oto Gozen no Haha Gosho" (Gosho Zenshu, pp. 1222-23): thought to have been written in November 1273, when the Daishonin was 52.
2. The original Japanese could also be interpreted as meaning, "Although I am not much of a letter writer...."
3. In 1272, Hojo Tokisuke, an elder half brother of the ruling regent, Hojo Tokimune, plotted to seize power. But Tokimune discovered the plot and swiftly suppressed it by having his brother killed.

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