SGI-USA Study Curriculum
Learning from the Gosho: The Eternal Teachings of Nichiren Daishonin
by SGI President Ikeda
Lecture 12 - Letter to the Mother of Oto
Gozen (2)
We Gain Fortune With Every Step We Take for the Mystic
Law
Having faith produces benefit and good fortune not limited
to this lifetime, but spanning past, present and future.
The eternity of life, the eternal law of cause and effect,
is a solemn reality. Believing in the "Life Span of
the Thus Come One" (16th) chapter of the Lotus Sutra
means living with confidence in this reality.
Among the many disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, there were
10 known as the 10 major disciples.
Among these, Maudgalyayana (1) was the foremost in supernatural
powers. He could travel anywhere in the four continents
(2) and in the entire realm beneath the sun and moon, in
less time than it takes to cut a single hair.
When we inquire into the cause for his gaining such powers,
we find that in a past life he would travel as far as a
thousand miles in order to hear Buddhism being expounded.
Also, Chang-an, the disciple of the Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai,
managed to make his way 10,000 miles (3) to become the apprentice
of T'ien-t'ai and to hear about the Lotus Sutra. The Great
Teacher Dengyo journeyed 2,000 miles (4) in order to study
the Maka Shikan. (5) The Tripitaka Master Hsuan-tsang (6)
traveled 200,000 miles [from China to India] and acquired
the Prajna (Hannya) sutras.
[When we consider these examples,] it seems that the length
of the journey traveled in pursuit of the Law represents
the strength of seeking spirit. (Gosho Zenshu, pp. 1222-23)
(7)
People who use their legs, who move around for the sake
of Buddhism, gain the good fortune and benefit to freely
travel the world. People who prepare places for Buddhist
meetings, including those who clean the community and training
centers, develop the state of life to dwell in "bejeweled
houses" in the future. These examples are not fairy
tales. The Mystic Law is wondrous and inscrutable. This
is a function of the law of the simultaneity of cause and
effect.
Actions taken for kosen-rufu cannot fail to produce effects.
If we are confident of this --- and to the extent that we
have confidence in this --- effects will manifest without
fail. But if our confidence is partially clouded by doubt,
then we will only see vague or indistinct results, like
the light of a half moon.
The path that the mother and her daughter, Oto Gozen, traveled
was not simply a road. It was the path to attaining Buddhahood,
the path to accumulating boundless good fortune and benefit.
"The length of the journey traveled in pursuit of
the Law represents the strength of seeking spirit,"
the Daishonin says. Even though it might be difficult, when
you thoroughly advance in pursuit of Buddhism, with every
step you plant more seeds of good fortune and benefit in
your life. These will, as a matter of course, eventually
flower and bear fruit.
All of you have worked hard for many years to achieve kosen-rufu.
And you continue to take action. How the Daishonin must
praise your spirit!
To illustrate how our daily efforts accrue, take the case
of someone who delivers the Seikyo Shimbun every day to
a mailbox on the fourth floor of a building. In just climbing
those flights of stairs every day for two years, this person
will have ascended to a cumulative height greater than Mount
Everest.
Or if a district women's division leader walks for activities
a distance of 1.2 miles every day for 10 years, she will
have walked 4,562.5 miles. In 15 years she will have covered
6,875 miles.
As for the journey from Kamakura to Sado, while there will
be some variance depending on how you calculate it and the
specific route that is taken, the distance, including ascent
and descent over mountainous terrain, probably came to between
250 and 312.5 miles. All the women's division members are
"present-day mothers of Oto Gozen." They are people
with a mystic mission.
Our spirit changes our being. It changes our lives. Why
does the Buddha have an indestructible, diamond-like life?
Shakyamuni explains that it is because he has steadfastly
and thoroughly protected the True Law. Having a strong spirit
for kosen-rufu enables us to develop a diamond-like life.
The boy who offered a mud pie to Shakyamuni was later reborn
as King Ashoka.
There are now many members who have developed the state
of life to freely travel the world, thanks to having painstakingly
walked countless narrow lanes and alleys to encourage friends
during the early days of our movement. It may be that those
responsible for the sound system at meetings, as a result
of the good fortune and benefit they gain thereby, are creating
the cause to be reborn as great musicians.
In activities for kosen-rufu, absolutely no effort is wasted.
Everything is engraved in our lives and enables us to establish
a diamond-like and totally free state of life. In overcoming
our weaknesses and exerting ourselves daily for the sake
of friends, we have already achieved victory. Ultimately,
our victory or defeat in life is not decided by someone
else --- we decide it. A person who steadfastly adheres
to the path that he or she has chosen is a winner.
These people were all men. They were regarded as reincarnations
of Buddhas or bodhisattvas. But you are a woman. And, moreover,
you probably are unfamiliar with the comparison between
provisional and true Mahayana and other such doctrinal matters.
Your having come all the way here to Sado despite this
must be due to the roots of goodness you created in past
lives. (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1223)
The individuals the Daishonin mentions, whose names shine
in Buddhist history, were courageous people who sought the
Law even at the cost of their lives. He says that the mother
of Oto Gozen has joined the ranks of these great predecessors.
What a landmark teaching this is!
His words fly completely in the face of the accepted beliefs
of his day. They erase the formidable distinctions between
men and women, and between reincarnations of Buddhas and
ordinary believers who aren't well schooled in Buddhist
doctrine. The Daishonin says that the mother of Oto Gozen
is a "woman who is certain to become a Buddha."
Differences in gender and social status have nothing to
do with it. Nor is fame a factor. Faith, a seeking mind,
is what counts.
Buddhism is a teaching beyond the secular realm. Realm
in this case means "difference" or "distinction."
By "beyond the secular realm," I mean that Buddhism
transcends superficial distinctions. Buddhism is to see
the truth of life directly, setting aside all differences,
to observe one's mind, to see the human being.
Human society, as viewed with the "eyes of Buddhism,"
takes on a completely different meaning from that discerned
by "secular eyes." No longer are the powerful
above and ordinary people below. Status does not make people
great, and authority does not make them noble. Instead,
it is people wholeheartedly dedicated to a lofty ideal who
shine the brightest.
Again, as the Daishonin indicates, through "roots
of goodness" the bond uniting those who advance together
along the path of kosen-rufu is not solely of this lifetime.
It is said that in the past there was a woman who so longed
for the man she loved that she walked a thousand miles.
There are also examples of others who, driven by such passion,
transformed themselves into stones, trees, birds or snakes.
(8)
Nichiren
The third day of the eleventh month (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1223)
The Daishonin mentions here a woman who longed so much
for a man that she walked a thousand miles --- and other
accounts of women turning themselves into stones, trees,
birds or snakes owing to such intense yearning. This didn't
actually happen, but it seems to me the point is that the
person's inner state of life became a rock, a tree or a
snake. In this sense, you can think of countless examples
of the same thing happening today. These images might seem
overly dramatic, but they convey the extreme pain that people
go through.
Here the Daishonin is making a comparison --- while women
of legend turned into stones or snakes because of their
longing for someone of the opposite sex, the mother of Oto
Gozen will become a Buddha because of her longing for the
Lotus Sutra.
In the Gosho "Letter from Sado," the Daishonin
says: "[Human beings] give their lives for shallow,
worldly matters but rarely for the noble cause of Buddhism.
Small wonder they do not attain Buddhahood" (The Major
Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 34). Not only
have we been lucky enough to be born as human beings, but
we have had the rare fortune to encounter the correct Buddhist
teaching. By firmly establishing in our hearts a strong
yearning for kosen-rufu, we can manifest a state of happiness
in the eternal dimension of the three existences. We can
each become a Buddha.
And if we succeed in becoming Buddhas, then we can lead
our loved ones to enlightenment, too. Together we can enjoy
lives of boundless happiness.
A Mother Sows the Seeds of Happiness for Her Kids
[Postscript:] How Oto Gozen must have grown! Your efforts
in service to the Lotus Sutra will no doubt fill Oto Gozen
's entire life with happiness. (9) (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1223)
The Daishonin was always concerned about Oto Gozen's development.
In a letter several years later ("The Supremacy of
the Law"), he says, "I would imagine your daughter,
Oto, has become a fine and intelligent young girl"
(MW-3, 202). This child had been brought up by a true "mother
of kosen-rufu." Surely the growth of such a child is
a source of great anticipation and joy.
Elsewhere. the Daishonin expresses delight at the fine
growth of Nanjo Hyoe Shichiro's son Nanjo Tokimitsu, Abutsu-bo's
son Tokuro Moritsuna, Toki Jonin's son Iyo-bo and others.
The Daishonin means here that the mother's good fortune
and benefit in having devoted herself to the Lotus Sutra
has become her daughter Oto Gozen's good, fortune. The good
fortune and benefit we create by exerting ourselves in faith
will definitely manifest in the lives of our children, grandchildren
and all our family members.
Buddhism is the supreme medicine. The Daishonin says that
the benefit of faith extends to the "preceding seven
generations and the seven generations that followed"
(MW-7, 172).
How the Daishonin's words must have put Oto Gozen's mother
at ease! For a mother, the future of her child is a matter
of the greatest concern. That was probably all the more
true for Oto Gozen's mother, because she was raising her
daughter alone.
The original Buddha promises this mother that her daughter,
who doubtless she held as dear as her own life, would become
happy. Thus embraced in the Daishonin's mercy, she must
have felt as though all her troubles and sufferings had
vanished instantly.
Oto Gozen's mother steadfastly maintained her faith. When
the Daishonin moved to Mount Minobu, she undertook another
journey to visit him. And later, according to one source,
(10) with Oto Gozen she visited the Daishonin's successor,
Nikko Shonin, after his painful departure from Mount Minobu.
Mother and daughter possessed a pure and honest seeking
spirit.
When people were filled with apprehension at the impending
second Mongol invasion of Japan, the Daishonin called out
to the mother and daughter: "Should any calamity befall
us, you should immediately come to visit me here [Mount
Minobu], where you will be welcomed wholeheartedly. Should
the worst happen, then let us starve together among these
mountains" (MW-3, 202). "Let us suffer this calamity
together," he is saying in effect. "Let us eternally
share the joys and sufferings of life together."
The Daishonin never forgot the immense sincerity and concern
the mother of Oto Gozen showed when he was undergoing the
greatest of hardships on Sado. He indicates here that he
would put his life on the line to protect her and her daughter.
Bonds of the heart forged in times of great difficulty are
eternal. Could there be any greater honor? Could there be
any greater treasure? This mother and daughter undertook
a journey over mountains and across the sea, and in the
end possessed a brilliantly shining jewel in their lives.
As we cross mountains and rivers together in the journey
of kosen-rufu, every step of the way a symphony --- of eternal
jewels, eternal dramas and brilliant paintings --- resounds
in our hearts.
(This concludes President Ikeda's lecture
on the Gosho "Letter to the Mother of Oto Gozen.")
Notes:
1. Maudgalyayana: Also known as Mahamaudgalyayana.
2. Four continents: Those situated respectively to the
east west, north and south of Mount Sumeru, according
to the ancient Indian world view. They represent the entire
world.
3. The distances in this paragraph are intended figuratively,
not literally.
4. Some sources indicate that he traveled 3,000 miles.
In China Dengyo became a disciple of Tao-sui of the T'ien-t'ai
school.
5. Maka Shikan (Great Concentration and Insight): One
of T'ien-t'ai's three major works, compiled by his disciple
Chang-an. It elucidates, among other things, the principle
of a life-moment possessing 3,000 realms.
6. Hsuan-tsang (602-64): A Chinese priest of the T'ang
dynasty and a translator of Buddhist scriptures. He journeyed
to India in 629 to study Buddhism.
7. "Oto Gozen no Haha Gosho" (Gosho Zenshu,
pp. 1222-23), thought to have been written in November
1273, when the Daishonin was 52.
8. There are many Japanese fables and legends that portray
women whose love or yearning for a man was so powerful
that they turned themselves into some non-human or inanimate
form. This is done either to be close to that person or
to wreak revenge on him for being spurned.
9. This translation is based on new research on the original
writings of Nichiren Daishonin. It differs substantially
from the version in the Gosho Zenshu.
10. Gosho Zenshu appendix, "Deshidannato Retsuden"
(List of Disciples and Followers), compiled by 59th High
Priest Nichiko Shonin, p. 8.
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