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On Omens
BACKGROUND:
Nichiren Daishonin
wrote "On Omens" at Minobu in 1275, when he
was fifty-four years old. As the closing part of this letter is missing, its
recipient is uncertain, but it is generally thought to have been addressed to
Shijo Kingo, a samurai and one of the Daishonin's most loyal followers. Shijo
Kingo was at this time facing opposition from his lord and fellow samurai on
account of his faith.
In October 1274, the Mongols had launched a massive attack against the
southern islands of Iki and Tsushima and advanced to Kyushu. Japanese losses
were staggering, but when the Mongol forces returned to their battleships at
night, an unexpected storm arose and heavily damaged their fleet, forcing them
back toward Korea. The next year, however, Khubilai Khan again sent envoys,
threatening another invasion if the Japanese government did not acknowledge
fealty to the Mongol Empire. During this period, the Daishonin was busy at
Minobu writing letters, training his disciples and giving lectures on the Lotus
Sutra. "On Omens" interprets the Mongol threat
and other recent calamities in the light of his teaching.
In the beginning of this letter, Nichiren Daishonin discusses the omens which
appeared when Shakyamuni Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra in terms of the
principle of the oneness of life and its environment (esho funi). Further
expanding on this principle, he explains that when people's six sense organs or
perceptive faculties are deluded, extraordinary changes occur in the heavens and
on earth. This statement reflects the truth that while life and its environment
are two independent phenomena, fundamentally they are one and inseparable.
Next, the Daishonin explains that the Buddha's preaching is always preceded
by omens, whose magnitude reflects the depth of the teaching to be revealed.
Thus the portents heralding the preaching of the Lotus Sutra were greater than
those preceding any other sutra. Moreover, the signs presaging the essential
teaching (latter half) of the Lotus Sutra far surpassed those introducing the
theoretical teaching (former half). The Daishonin cites the emergence of the
Treasure Tower and the appearance of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth as omens
revealing the superiority of the essential teaching over the theoretical
teaching. Moreover, he says, the great portents of the Jinriki
(twenty-first) chapter surpass even these, and foretell that the Law of
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo indicated in the depths of the Juryo (sixteenth) chapter
will spread widely in the Latter Day, which begins two thousand years after
Shakyamuni's passing.
The Daishonin then turns to the upheavals and strange occurrences in Japan
during his own time. All of these, he concludes, occur because people oppose the
votary of the Lotus Sutra who propagates its essence in the Latter Day.
Specifically, he warns that because of the slander perpetrated by Nembutsu
believers and Shingon teachers, Japan will be destroyed by a foreign country.
Since the people are persecuting Nichiren Daishonin, they suffer from great
calamities. This implies that he is none other than the Buddha of the Latter Day
of the Law - which is "the most important of my teachings" mentioned
in the last paragraph.
Designed by Will Kallander