The Doctrine of Attaining Buddhahood in One's Present Form 妙一女御返事（信心本義事）

Question: In the country of Japan, there are the six sects, the seven sects and the eight sects. Among these, which sect teaches the attainment of Buddhahood in one’s present form?

Answer: According to the Great Teacher Dengyo, this doctrine is found only in the Lotus Sutra, while according to the Great Teacher Kobo, it is found only in the Shingon teachings.

Question: What proof can you show to support this?

Answer: The Great Teacher Dengyo states in his Hokke shuku: "You should understand that, among the sutras that the other sects rely upon, there are none that teach the doctrine of entering [Buddhahood] in one’s present form. Although a part of them appears to teach this doctrine, they limit such attainment to those who have reached the eighth of the ten stages of development or higher. They do not acknowledge [the attainment of Buddhahood in] the form of a common mortal. Only the Tendai-Hokke sect clearly teaches this doctrine of entering [Buddhahood] in one’s present form."

The Hokke shuku also declares: "Neither teacher nor disciples need undergo countless kalpas of austere practice in order to attain Buddhahood. Through the power of the Lotus Sutra they can do so in their present form."

It also says: "You should understand that this passage [in the Lotus Sutra] is inquiring whether there are any persons who have attained Buddhahood, and so intends to manifest the great power and authority of this sutra."

The purpose of these passages of commentary is to clarify that the attainment of Buddhahood in one’s present form is limited to the Lotus Sutra alone.

Question: What evidence can you show that would indicate the opinion of the Great Teacher Kobo?

Answer: In his Nikyo ron, the Great Teacher Kobo states: "The Bodaishin ron says: ‘Only in the Shingon teachings can one attain Buddhahood in one’s present form, because these teachings expound the practice ofsamadhi meditation. No such exposition is to be found in the other types of teachings.’ I would like to point out that this treatise represents the secret storehouse, the heart and core, of all the thousand treatises written by the great sage Nagarjuna. In the passage just quoted, the phrase ‘other types of teachings’ refers to the various doctrines expounded by the body of beneficence and by the various transformation bodies. These are all doctrines of the exoteric teachings. But the words ‘these teachings expound the practice of samadhi meditation’ refer to the teaching expounded by the body whose nature is the Dharma and to the samadhi practice carried out in the esoteric teachings of Shingon. These are set forth in the hundred thousand verses of praise in the Kongocho Sutra and other texts."

Question: The opinions put forward by these two great teachers are as incompatible as water and fire. Which one are we to believe?

Answer: These two great teachers were both outstanding sages. They went to China in the same year, and there both alike received instruction in the Shingon esoteric teachings. The Great Teacher Dengyo had as his teacher in the two mandalas the eminent priest Shun-hsiao. The Great Teacher Kobo had as his teacher in the two mandalas the eminent priest Hui-kuo.

Both Shun-hsiao and Hui-kuo were disciples of Pu-k’ung. And the Tripitaka Master Pu-k’ung was sixth in a direct line of succession from the Buddha Dainichi. Thus from the standpoint of both the transmission they had inherited and their own accomplishments, the great teachers Dengyo and Kobo were valued by the people of the time as though they were the sun and moon. They were looked up to as if they were the minister of the left and the minister of the right. For a person of shallow learning to try to decide which is right and which is wrong is difficult indeed. [Were I to do so,] I would surely gain an evil reputation throughout the land and call down great difficulties upon myself. Nevertheless, I will attempt to examine their doctrines with a critical eye and clarify their truth or falsehood.

Question: When the Great Teacher Kobo says that the doctrine of attaining Buddhahood in one’s present form is found only in the Shingon teachings, what sutras or treatises is he relying on?

Answer: The Great Teacher Kobo is relying on the Bodaishin ron of Bodhisattva Nagarjuna.

Question: What proof do you have of this?

Answer: In his Nikyo ron, the Great Teacher Kobo cites the passage from the Bodaishin ron that reads: "Only in the Shingon teachings [can one attain Buddhahood in one’s present form,]... No such exposition is to be found in the other types of teachings."

Question: Is there any sutra text to support this view?

Answer: In his Sokushin jobutsu gi, the Great Teacher Kobo states: "The six great elements interpenetrate without obstruction and are constantly harmonized. The four types of mandalas are not disassociated from one another, When the Buddha bestows the three mysteries and one responds with one’s own three mysteries, Buddhahood will become manifest immediately. The aspect that is infinitely and mutually reflecting, like the jewels of Indra’s net, is what is referred to as ‘present form.’ The Buddha is naturally endowed with all-embracing wisdom.

More numerous than dust particles are those possessing the fundamental entity of the mind and its attendant mental functions. Each is endowed with the five kinds of wisdom, with boundless wisdom. When the power of the round-mirror wisdom functions perfectly, this is the true wisdom of awakening.

Question: I am somewhat in doubt as to what sutra this passage of commentary is based on. Answer: It is based on the Kongocho and Dainichi sutras.

Question: May I ask what passages in the sutras?

Answer: The Great Teacher Kobo cites as his proof the following passage: "The person who practices this samadhi can immediately attain the Buddha’s enlightenment." He also cites this passage: "Without casting off this body, one can attain the supernatural power of being anywhere at will. Strolling in the realm of the Great Void, he masters the mystery of the body." And this passage: "I [Dainichi] realized that I am originally unborn." And this: "All phenomena are from the beginning unborn."

Question: I would like to make an objection. These passages are indeed from the Dainichi and Kongocho sutras. But one of them refers to Dainichi Buddha’s attainment of enlightenment; another asserts that the practitioner of Shingon can acquire the five transcendental powers in his present body; and a third describes how the bodhisattva in the ten stages of devotion may in his present body move on to the next stage, the stage of joy. But these still do not explain how one can in one’s present form gain awareness of the non-birth and non-extinction of all phenomena, much less how one can attain Buddhahood in one’s present form.

Moreover, the Bodaishin ron [on which Kobo bases his argument] is not even a sutra. To base one’s arguments on a treatise is to commit the error of turning one’s back on what is superior and following what is inferior. It also violates the Buddha’s teaching that one should "rely on the Law and not upon persons."

But the Shingon priests of To-ji temple speak ill of Nichiren, saying, "You are only an ordinary man, whereas the Great Teacher Kobo was a bodhisattva who had reached the third stage of development. You have not yet reached the state of realizing the non-birth and non-extinction of all phenomena in your present form, while the Great Teacher Kobo attained Buddhahood in his present form before the emperor’s very eyes. And moreover, because you have not yet received any imperial edict [bestowing such a title upon you], you are not a Great Teacher. Therefore you do not qualify as a teacher of the country of Japan! (This is their first point.)

"The Great Teacher Jikaku was a disciple of Dengyo and Gishin; the Great Teacher Chisho was a disciple of Gishin and Jikaku; and the eminent priest Annen was a disciple of the eminent priest Anne. These three men have declared that the Hokke-Tendai sect’s doctrine of attaining Buddhahood in one’s present form represents only the esoteric doctrines, while the Shingon sect’s teaching of attaining Buddhahood in one’s present form represents the esoteric doctrines and practices. The great teachers Dengyo and Kobo were neither of them stupid men. In addition, sages show no partiality, and thus, the three teachers Jikaku, Chisho and Annen, though they lived in the mountain temple founded by Dengyo, concurred in their teachings with the intent of Kobo of To-ji temple. Accordingly, in Japan for the past four hundred years or more, no one has disputed their doctrines. Now, what do you, an unworthy person, mean by coming forward with these evil doctrines of yours!" (This is their second point.)

Answer: If you simply speak rudely and adopt an abusive attitude, I will not discuss the matter with you. I will discuss it only if you sincerely desire to hear the truth. But with people like you, if one makes no reply, then you suppose him to be incapable of responding. Therefore I will answer you. But rather than adopting an abusive attitude or using rude language, you had better produce some clear passage from the sutras to support the assertions of the Great Teacher Kobo in whom you put such trust. In view of your abusive language and attitude, it would seem that in fact there is no sutra passage [substantiating the Shingon doctrine] of attaining Buddhahood in one’s present form!

As for the matter of Jikaku, Chisho and Annen, the great teachers Jikaku and Chisho embraced the doctrines of the Great Teacher Dengyo while they were still in Japan. But after they journeyed to China, they adopted the doctrines of such teachers as Yuan-cheng and Fa-ch’uan and in their hearts discarded the doctrines of the Great Teacher Dengyo. Thus, although they lived in the mountain temple founded by Dengyo, they proved unfaithful to his teachings.

Question: What led you to this conclusion?

Answer: The commentary by the Great Teacher Dengyo states, "You should understand that this passage is inquiring whether there are any persons who have attained Buddhahood, and so intends to manifest the great power and authority of this sutra." This section is related to a passage he quoted earlier in this commentary from the Devadatta chapter of the Lotus Sutra [in which Monjushiri says], "When I was in the ocean [I constantly expounded the Lotus Sutra alone]." The point of Dengyo’s comment is that, no matter how much people may talk about attaining Buddhahood in one’s present form, unless there are actual examples of persons who have done so, one should not heed their doctrine. It stands to reason that, unless based on the sutra of the single truth that is pure and perfect, there can be no attainment of Buddhahood in one’s present form. And in the Shingon scriptures such as the Dainichi and Kongocho sutras, no examples of such persons are to be found.

Moreover, when we examine these Shingon sutras, we see that they clearly belong to the categories of "combining, excluding, corresponding and including." They do not teach that persons of the two vehicles can attain Buddhahood, nor do they even suggest anywhere that Shakyamuni actually attained Buddhahood in the inconceivably remote past.

Were Jikaku and Chisho perhaps deceived by the commentaries of Shan-wu-wei, Chin-kang-chih and Pu-k’ung? Jikaku and Chisho appear to have been worthy men and sages, and yet they tended to honor what was distant and to despise what was close at hand. They were bewitched by the fact that the three Shingon sutras contained mudras and mantras, and completely forgot about the all-important path of attaining Buddhahood in one’s present form.

Thus, although the persons on Mount Hiei at present seem to be propounding the Lotus Sutra’s doctrine of attaining Buddhahood in one’s present form, they are in fact propounding the attainment of Buddhahood in one’s present form as put forward by the Great Teacher Jikaku, Annen and the others. The attainment of Buddhahood in one’s present form put forward by these persons is an attainment of Buddhahood in name but not in reality. The doctrines of such people are utterly at variance with those of the Great Teacher Dengyo.

According to the Great Teacher Dengyo, regardless of whether or not people have cast aside the body subject to transmigration through delusion with differences and limitations, the intent of the Lotus Sutra is that they attain Buddhahood in their present form. But according to the doctrines of the Great Teacher Jikaku, if one casts aside the body subject to transmigration through delusion with differences and limitations, then this cannot be called attaining Buddhahood, in one’s present form. However, people who propound such a view have no understanding of what attaining Buddhahood in one’s present form really means.

Question: The Great Teacher Jikaku knew the Great Teacher Dengyo personally, studied directly under him and inherited his teachings. You, on the other hand, are separated [from Dengyo] by more than four hundred years. Is this not so?

Answer: Are persons who have received the teachings directly from their teacher invariably free from error, while those who appear in later ages and examine and come to a perfect understanding are to be regarded as worthless? If so, then should we throw away the sutras and instead rely upon the four ranks of bodhisattvas? Should a person throw away the deed of transfer received from his father and mother and instead depend upon oral transmissions? Are the written commentaries of the Great Teacher Dengyo so much trash, and the oral traditions handed down from the Great Teacher Jikaku the only guide to truth?

In the Hokke shuku, the Great Teacher Dengyo lists ten points that are not found in any sutra [other than the Lotus]. As the eighth of these, it names the sutra’s "superiority in leading people to attain Buddhahood in their present form." Later on, the commentary states: "You should understand that this passage is inquiring whether there are any persons who have attained Buddhahood, and so intends to manifest the great power and authority of this sutra.... You should understand that, among the sutras that the other sects rely upon, there are none that teach the doctrine of entering [Buddhahood] in one’s present form."

Are we to turn our backs upon this passage of commentary and instead endorse the doctrine of attaining Buddhahood in one’s present form based on the Dainichi Sutra, which the Great Teacher Jikaku says represents the esoteric doctrines and practices?

Question: Among the commentaries of the Great Teacher Dengyo, are there any that do not recognize the word "only" in the Bodaishin ron’s statement [that "only in the Shingon teachings can one attain Buddhahood in one’s present form"]?

Answer: The Hokke shuku states: "Neither teacher nor disciples need undergo countless kalpas of austere practice in order to attain Buddhahood Through the power of the Lotus Sutra they can do so in their present form." Thus, as you can see, this commentary does not recognize the word "only" in the Bodaishin ron’s statement.

Question: If one rejects the Bodaishin ron, is he not then rejecting Nagarjuna?

Answer: It is more likely that the translator distorted the meaning according to his personal views.

Question: If you reject any translator, then should you not also reject Kumarajiva, the translator of the Lotus Sutra?

Answer: In the case of Kumarajiva, there is actual proof [attesting to the validity of his translations]. But no such proof exists in the case of Pu-k’ung.

Question: May I ask what proof you refer to?

Answer: I refer to the fact that Kumarajiva’s tongue remained unburned. You should inquire about the details.

Question: Were Jikaku and Chisho ignorant of this matter?

Answer: These two men put their trust in the doctrines of the Tripitaka masters such as Shan-wu-wei. That is probably the reason they rejected the correct teachings of the Great Teacher Dengyo. They are examples of men who relied upon persons and turned their backs upon the Law.

Question: Up until now, there has never been anyone in Japan who controverted the teachings of Jikaku, Chisho and Annen. How do you explain that?

Answer: Do the followers of the Great Teacher Kobo accept the teachings of Jikaku and Chisho? Do the followers of Jikaku and Chisho accept the teachings of the Great Teacher Kobo?

Question: Although the two teaching lines may differ somewhat, they are not, as your teachings would be, as incompatible as fire and water. And neither do they criticize others as slanderers of the True Law, do they?

Answer: But how exactly should we describe slander of the True Law? When the followers of non-Buddhist religions attack the Buddhist teachings, when followers of Hinayana attack Mahayana, when followers of provisional Mahayana look down on the teachings of true Mahayana, or when true Mahayana attempts to join forces with provisional Mahayana -- in the final analysis, when what is superior is designated inferior -- such acts go against the Law and are therefore termed slander of the Law.

Where is there any scriptural evidence to support the Great Teacher Kobo’s contention that the Dainichi Sutra is superior to the Lotus and Kegon sutras? The Lotus Sutra, on the other hand, contains passages clearly stating that it surpasses the Kegon and Dainichi sutras. This is the meaning, for example, of the statement that among all the sutras the Buddha "has preached, now preaches and will preach" in the future, [the Lotus Sutra stands supreme]. Though Kobo is highly honored, he can hardly escape the grave charge of contradicting Shakyamuni, Taho and all the other Buddhas of the ten directions, who are Shakyamuni’s emanations!

Now, rather than appealing to the authorities in an attempt to browbeat me, why do you not simply produce some reliable passage of scriptural proof? You people look to human beings to be your allies. But I, Nichiren, make the gods of the sun and moon, Taishaku and Bonten, my allies. Gods of the sun and moon, open your divine eyes and look at what is happening! In the palaces of the sun and moon there are surely copies of the Lotus, Dainichi and Kegon sutras. Compare them and see what the truth is! Whose teachings deserve the higher place, those of Kobo, Jikaku, Chisho and Annen, or those of Nichiren?

If in the doctrines I put forth there is one part in a hundred or a thousand that accords with true principles, then how can these heavenly beings withhold their aid from me? And if the teachings of Kobo and the others are in fact false, then all the people in this country of Japan will suffer the retribution of being born without eyes. Will not the heavenly beings then think of them with great pity?

I, Nichiren, have twice been banished, and at one point was almost beheaded. Those responsible were in effect attempting to cut off the heads of Shakyamuni, Taho and all the other Buddhas of the ten directions!

There is only one god of the sun and one god of the moon, but these two are the eyes and the life of all the living beings of the four continents. It is written in the sutras that the sun and moon feed upon the Law of the Buddha and thereby increase their brilliance and power. Persons who destroy the flavor of the Buddhist Law are in effect depriving the sun and moon of their strength. They are enemies of all living beings. How can the sun and moon go on shining upon the heads of such persons, giving them long life and sustaining them with clothing and food?

When the disciples of those three great teachers [ -- Kobo, Jikaku and Chisho -- ] slander the Lotus Sutra, is it simply because the minds of the gods of the sun and moon have entered into them and are causing them to commit slander? Or, if that is not the case and I myself am at fault, then the god of the sun must show me so! Let those disciples be summoned to debate with me, and if I am bested in the argument and yet refuse to change my views, then the gods may take away my life!

But that is not what happens. Instead, they unreasonably hand me over to my enemies, like a baby monkey entrusted to a dog or a baby mouse presented to a cat, to be attacked and tortured without mercy, and yet mete out no punishment to my tormentors. That is what I cannot countenance! As far as the gods of the sun and moon are concerned, I suppose I am a deadly foe. When I find myself in the presence of Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, I will surely press charges against them. At that time, you gods must bear me no resentment!

You gods of the sun and the moon, as well as you gods of the earth and the sea, hear my words! And, you gods who protect and guard Japan, hear me! I have not the slightest ill intention.

Therefore, you must hasten to respond in an appropriate manner. And if you delay until it is too late, you must bear me no grudge! Nam-myoho-renge-kyo! Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!

Respectfully,
Nichiren

The fourteenth day of the seventh month

Reply to Myoichi-nyo

Jozo and Jogen

I have received one sack of unpolished rice, one basket of melons, some yams and various other gifts.

Once there was a person who exerted himself in the service of a wealthy man named Rakutoku. Day and night he, his wife and their children were treated harshly and driven hard. Unable to bear the excessive ill-treatment, he hid himself and fled to another country. After serving for a time in the court of a great king in that country, he became an influential retainer and eventually the chief minister to the king. Later, employing the might of this country, he defeated the country where his former master resided. At that time, seeing this chief minister, the former master was greatly frightened and regretted his ill-treatment. Placing himself in the service of the chief minister, he brought him various treasures. And, with no thought for the defeat he had experienced, he now strove only to ensure that his life would be spared.

The case of the Lotus Sutra is the same. The Lotus Sutra is the master of Yakushi Buddha in the east, as well as the master of all Buddhas in the south, west, north and the worlds above and below. Shakyamuni Buddha and the other Buddhas revere the characters of the Lotus Sutra in the same way that people fear their sovereign and the stars venerate the moon.

We ordinary persons, however, have long been under the influence of the Devil of the Sixth Heaven. We have been forced into confinement in the realms of hell, hungry spirits and animals, and, without a moment of relief, day and night we are tortured by the wardens of hell. Even so, if we could somehow place ourselves under the protection of the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha and the Buddhas of the ten directions would treat us as their children, and thus even the heavenly kings Bonten and Taishaku. would refrain from approaching us out of fear. How much more, then, would the Devil of the Sixth Heaven fear us! Even though the devil king had formerly been our master, he would now stand in reverential awe of us. And, terribly fearful that should he cause trouble for us, his situation would worsen when he presented himself to the Lotus Sutra and the Buddhas of the ten directions, he would make us offerings. For this reason he spares no effort whatsoever to prevent all the living beings of the six paths from accepting the Lotus Sutra.

Therefore, how could this be? You have taken pity on Nichiren, who is hated by all people, sending various articles all the way to me in these mountains on more than just one or two occasions. This is no ordinary matter. Indeed, Shakyamuni Buddha himself may have entered your body. Or perhaps your deceased son has become a Buddha and, in order to guide his father and mother, has entered your hearts.

King Myoshogon was an evil king. However, because his two sons, Jozo and Jogen, guided him to the way, he and his wife were both able to place their trust in the Lotus Sutra and become Buddhas. Mysteriously enough, your own circumstances are much the same.

Kai-ko said: "He [the deceased son] was above the ordinary in both features and form. In addition, he was honest at heart and rich in wisdom. I felt it a terrible pity that someone such as he, outstanding in every respect, should die so young. Reconsidering the matter, however, I realized that it was because of this boy’s death that his mother became a seeker of the way and his father began to practice, praying for his repose. How marvelous, I thought. Moreover, the fact that they have put their trust in the Lotus Sutra, which all people detest, must mean that their deceased son has been at their side and encouraged them to do so." I also believe this to be the case.

Before, I had thought that your sincerity was just an ordinary matter, but now, for the first time, I have sensed the depth of your faith. If anything should happen to you, just as the moon emerges to shine in the dark night, so the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo will appear as a moon for you. Be convinced that Shakyamuni Buddha, the Buddhas of the ten directions and the son who preceded you in death will appear in this moon. I will explain in greater detail on another occasion.

With my deep respect,
Nichiren

The seventh day of the seventh month

Letter to Akimoto 秋元書

This Gosho also called "筒御器鈔".

I have received the thirty cylindrical vessels and the sixty plates that you were kind enough to send.

A vessel is a kind of utensil. Because the great earth is hollowed out, water collects on it; and because the blue sky is pure, the moon shines in it. When the moon rises, the water glows with a pure light; and when the rain falls, the plants and trees flourish.

A vessel is hollowed out like the earth, and water can be collected in it the way water is stored in a pond. And the reflection of the moon floats on the surface of the water in the same way that the Lotus Sutra pervades our being.

But a vessel is susceptible to four faults. The first is called fuku which means that the vessel overturns or is rendered useless because a lid is put on it. The second is called ro, which means that the water leaks out. The third is called u, which means that the contents are contaminated. Though the water itself may be pure, if filth is dumped into it, then the water in the vessel ceases to be of any use. The fourth is called zo or "mixed." If rice is mixed with filth or pebbles or sand or dirt, then it is no longer fit for human consumption.

The vessel here stands for our bodies and minds. Our minds are a kind of vessel, and our mouths too are vessels, as are our ears. The Lotus Sutra is the Dharma water of the Buddha’s wisdom. But when this water is poured into our minds, then we may jar and upset it. Or we may shut it out by placing our hands over our ears, determined not to listen to it. Or we may spit it out of our mouths, determined not to let our mouths chant it. In such cases, we are like a vessel that has overturned or has had a lid placed on it.

Again, although we may have a certain amount of faith, we may encounter evil influences and find our faith weakening. Then we will deliberately abandon our faith, or, even though we maintain our faith for a day, we will set it aside for a month. In such cases, we are like vessels that let the water leak out.

Or we may be the kind of practitioners of the Lotus Sutra whose mouths are reciting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo one moment, but Namu Amida Butsu the next. This is like mixing filth with one’s rice, or putting sand or pebbles in it. This is what the Lotus Sutra is warning against when it says: "Desiring only to accept and embrace the sutra of the great vehicle and not accepting a single verse of the other sutras..."

The learned authorities in the world today suppose that there is no harm in mixing extraneous practices with the practice of the Lotus Sutra, and I, Nichiren, was once of that opinion myself. But the passage from the sutra [that I have just quoted] does not permit such a view. Suppose that a woman who had been the consort of a great king and had become pregnant with his seed should then turn round and marry a man of the common people. In such a case, the seed of the king and the seed of the commoner would become mixed together, and, as a result, the aid and assistance of heaven and the protection of the patron deities would be withdrawn and the kingdom would face ruin. The child born from two such fathers would be neither a king nor a commoner, but a kind of subhuman being.

This is one of the most important points in the Lotus Sutra. The doctrine of the sowing of the seed and its maturing and harvesting is the very heart and core of the Lotus Sutra. All the Buddhas of the three existences and the ten directions have invariably attained Buddhahood through the seeds represented by the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo. The words Namu Amida Butsu are not the seeds of Buddhahood, nor can the mantras or the five precepts act as such seeds. One must be perfectly clear about this point, because this is the fault referred to as "mixed."

If a vessel is free of these four faults of overturning, leaking, being contaminated and being mixed, then it can be called a perfect vessel. If the embankments around a moat do not leak, then the water will never escape from the moat. And if the mind of faith is perfect, then the water of wisdom, the great impartial wisdom, will never dry up.

Now these vessels that you have sent me are sturdy and thick, and in addition they are coated with pure lacquer. They symbolize the firmness and sturdiness of the power of your faith in the Lotus Sutra.

It is said that Bishamonten presented four bowls to the Buddha and as a result became known as the foremost deity of good fortune in all the four continents of the world. Lady Jotoku presented eighty-four thousand bowls as an offering to the Buddha Unraionno, and as a result became the bodhisattva Myoon. And now, since you have presented these thirty vessels and sixty plates, is there any doubt that you will become a Buddha?

The country of Japan is known by ten different names, such as Fuso, Yamato, Mizuho and Akitsushima. In addition, it may be described as a country of sixty-six provinces and two islands that measures over three thousand ri in length, and varies in width from a hundred ri to five hundred ri. It is divided into the five provinces of the capital area and the seven marches, and it has 586 districts and 3,729 villages. In terms of fields it includes 11,120 cho of superior lands and 885,567 cho of other kinds. The population numbers 4,989,658 persons. There are 3,132 shrines and 11,037 temples. Men number 1,994,828 and women 2,994,830.

Among all these men, Nichiren alone deserves to be regarded as foremost. In what sense is he foremost? He is foremost in being hated by men and women. The reason is that, although the provinces of Japan are numerous and their inhabitants are likewise numerous, they are alike in heart and their mouths all utter Namu Amida Butsu. They look upon Amida Buddha as their object of worship, hate all the other nine directions, and long only for the west. Thus those who practice the Lotus Sutra, those who carry out Shingon practices, those who observe the precepts, those who are wise and those who are foolish all look upon these practices as secondary and upon the Nembutsu as their primary practice and, hoping in this way to expiate their offenses, they recite the Buddha’s name. Hence some of them recite it 60,000 times, 80,000 times or 480,000 times, while others recite it 10 times, 100 times or 1,000 times.

But I, Nichiren, one man alone, declare that the recitation of the name of Amida Buddha is an action that leads to rebirth in the hell of incessant suffering, that the Zen sect is the invention of the Devil of Heaven, that Shingon is an evil doctrine that will destroy the country, and that the Ritsu sect and the observers of the precepts are traitors to the nation.

Because I do so, from the sovereign on down to the common people, all persons fear me more than they would an enemy of their parents, an enemy from a past existence, a plotter of treason, a night raider or a bandit. They rage, they curse, they strike at me. Those who slander me are given grants of land, while those who praise me are driven from their areas or fined, and the people who desire to kill me are singled out for rewards. And on top of all this, I have twice incurred the wrath of the authorities.

I am not only the strangest person alive in the world today; in the reigns of the ninety human sovereigns, in the seven hundred or more years since the Buddhist teachings were first introduced to Japan, there has never been such a strange person.

I, Nichiren, am like the great comet of the Bun’ei era (1264), a disorder of the heavens such as had never happened in Japan before that time. I, Nichiren, am like the great earthquake of the Shoka era (1257), a freak of the earth that had never occurred in this land until that time.

In Japan since the history of the country began, there have been twenty-six perpetrators of treason. The first was Prince Oyama, the second was Oishi no Yamamaru, and so on down to the twenty-fifth, Yoritomo, and the twenty-sixth, Yoshitoki. The first twenty-four of these men were struck down by the imperial forces and had their heads exposed at the prison gate or their corpses left to rot in the mountain fields. But the last two succeeded in overthrowing the sovereign and gaining complete control of the nation, and at that time the imperial rule came to an end.

And yet these various perpetrators of treason are less hated by the mass of people than is Nichiren. If you ask why that should be, I will tell you. The Lotus Sutra contains a passage declaring that that sutra is first among all the sutras. However, the Great Teacher Kobo declares that the Lotus Sutra ranks third, while the Great Teacher Jikaku declares that the Lotus Sutra ranks second, and the Great Teacher Chisho agrees with Jikaku. Hence at present, when the priests of Mount Hiei, To-Ji and Onjo-ji confront the Lotus Sutra, they read the passage that says the Lotus Sutra is first, but what they understand when they read it is that the Lotus Sutra is second or third in standing.

The members of the courtier and warrior families have no detailed information about this matter. But since the eminent priests upon whom they rely in matters of faith all subscribe to this opinion, the lay followers share the same view as their teachers.

With regard to other groups, the Zen sect describes itself as a teaching transmitted apart from the sutras, and hence speaks with scorn of the Lotus Sutra. The Nembutsu sect asserts that "not one person in a thousand..." and that "not a single person has ever attained Buddhahood" through any other teaching, by which it means that, in comparison to the Nembutsu, the Lotus Sutra is too lofty to practice and therefore ought to be rejected. The Ritsu sect is composed of Hinayana doctrines. Even in the Former Day of the Law the Buddha would not condone the spread of such teachings, so surely he would never approve of them being propagated in the Latter Day of the Law, causing the ruler of the nation to be confused and misled.

Three women of antiquity -- Ta Chi, Mo Hsi and Pao Ssu -- misled the rulers of the three dynasties and caused them to lose their thrones. And in the same way, these evil doctrines are propagated throughout the nation and cause the Lotus Sutra to lose its proper place. As a result, the great sovereigns Antoku, Takahira and the others were cast aside by Tensho Daijin and Great Bodhisattva Hachiman and drowned in the sea or were exiled to distant islands. They were overthrown by families who for generations in the past had been their followers, and this was because they had lost the protection of the heavenly deities. They put their faith in those who are enemies of the Lotus Sutra. But because there was no one who understood this, they had no way to learn of their error. This is illustrated in the statement that wise men can perceive the cause of things, just as snakes know the way of snakes.

I, Nichiren, am no wise man. But just as a snake can understand the mind of a dragon and crows can foretell the coming of good or bad fortune in the world, so I was able to fathom the course that events would take. And I knew that if I spoke out on the matter, I would instantly meet with punishment, while if I did not speak out, I would fall into the great Avichi hell.

In studying the Lotus Sutra, there are three principles that must be understood. The first is that regarding slanderers. Monk Shoi, Monk Kugan, the scholar Vimalamitra and the Great Arrogant Brahman are examples. These men dressed their bodies in the three robes, lifted a single begging bowl up before their eyes, and meticulously observed the two hundred and fifty precepts, and yet they were in fact enemies of the Mahayana and in the end fell into the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering.

In recent times in Japan there have been men like Kobo, Jikaku and Chisho who observed the precepts just as those earlier monks did and who did not differ from them in wisdom. But because they asserted that "The Shingon teaching of the Dainichi Sutra ranks first and the Lotus Sutra ranks second or third," if my view of the matter should by any chance be correct, they are now in the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering.

It is a fearful thing to utter such words, and still more does one hesitate to put them into writing. But, when the Buddha himself has declared that the Lotus is foremost, if one learns of a person who ranks it second or third and, out of fear of other people or of government authorities, fails to speak out, then "one is in fact an enemy," that is, one is acting as a fearful enemy to all living beings. This is stated in both the sutras and the commentaries, and so I speak out.

To speak out without fearing and without flinching before society – this is what the sutra means when it says, "We care nothing for our bodies or lives but are anxious only for the unsurpassed way."

It is not that one does not recall the evil accusations, the sticks and stones that were suffered by Bodhisattva Fukyo. It is not that one is unafraid of the world. It is just that the censures of the Lotus Sutra are even more severe. It is like the case of Sukenari and Tokimune, who acted as they did even though they found themselves in the camp of the shogun because they longed to avenge themselves upon their enemy and were ashamed at the thought of failing to do so.

The above is the principle relating to slanderers.

As for the families of slanderers, the family members may pass their entire lives without slandering the Lotus Sutra. But even though they practice it every hour of the day and night, the fact that they were born into the family of a slanderer means that they will invariably be reborn in the hell of incessant suffering. For example, those persons who were born into the family of Monk Shoi or Monk Kugan and became their disciples or lay supporters all fell, against their will, into the hell of incessant suffering. Or it is like the family members of Yoshimori. Setting aside the question of those who gave their lives in battle, even the children still in their mothers’ wombs, torn from their mothers’ bellies, were killed before birth.

Now I, Nichiren, have mentioned the three great teachers Kobo, Jikaku and Chisho, who boldly state in their writings that the Lotus Sutra represents the region of darkness, that it is a false and deluded doctrine. If what the Lotus Sutra itself says is correct, then what do you suppose will become of all the priests at Mount Hiei, To-ji, Onjo-ji, the seven major temples of Nara and the other 11,037 temples throughout Japan? If the examples cited earlier are any indication, they will without a doubt fall into the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering.

Such is the principle relating to the families of slanderers.

Next we come to the country of slanderers. Those persons who happen to live in a country where there are slanderers of the Law will all -- everyone in the entire country -- be condemned to the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering. Just as all the various waters gather in the great ocean, so all kinds of misfortune gather about such a country. They will abound in the way that grass and trees abound on a mountain.

When the three calamities pile up month after month and the seven disasters appear day after day, then hunger and thirst will prevail and the country will be changed into a realm of hungry spirits. When plague and disease sweep over the land, the country will become a realm of hell. When warfare breaks out, it will be transformed into a realm of asuras. And when parents, brothers and sisters, ignoring the fact that they are kin, begin taking each other for a husband or wife, the country will become a realm of beasts. Under such circumstances, one does not have to wait until death to fall into the three evil paths. While one is still alive, the country in which one lives will be changed into these four evil realms.

Such is the principle relating to a country where slanderers live.

The people in such a country will be like those who lived in the Latter Day of Daishogon Buddha, or in the defiled age of Shishionno Buddha. Or, if what the Hoon Sutra tells us is true, people will eat the flesh of their own deceased parents or brothers or sisters or of any other dead person, and they will eat live creatures as well.

Japan at present is just such a country. The entire nation is full of Shingon teachers, members of the Zen sect and observers of the precepts who eat people. And this has come about wholly as a result of the false doctrines of Shingon.

Ryuzo-bo is merely one of the countless number of eaters of people whose case has happened to come to light. In a spirit similar to his, people procure human flesh and mix it with boar or deer meat, or cut it up and blend it with fish or fowl, pound it or pickle it and then sell it. It is impossible to tell how many people have eaten it. All this has happened because the country has been cast aside by the heavenly gods and abandoned by the benevolent deities who watch over and protect it. In the end, this country will be attacked by other nations, its inhabitants will fall to fighting among themselves, and it will be transformed into a veritable hell of incessant suffering.

Because I, Nichiren, have for some time been able to see the great error of its ways, because I wish to avoid the offense of complicity in slander, because I fear the accusations of the Buddhas, and because I understand my obligations and wish to repay the debt of gratitude I owe my country, I have announced and made known all of this to the ruler of the country and to all its inhabitants.

The precept against the killing of living creatures is the first among all the various precepts. The five precepts begin with the precept against taking life, and the eight precepts, the ten precepts, the two hundred and fifty precepts, the five hundred precepts, the ten major precepts of the Bommo Sutra, the ten inexhaustible precepts of the Kegon Sutra and the ten precepts of the Yoraku Sutra, all begin with the precept against killing. And among the three thousand penalties prescribed by the Confucian school, capital punishment stands in first place.

The reason is that "Nothing throughout the entire major world system matches the value of a living being," which means that not even all the jewels and treasures that fill the entire major world system can equal the value of a life. One who kills a mere ant will fall into hell, to say nothing of those who kill fish or birds! One who cuts a mere blade of green grass will fall into hell, to say nothing of those who cut up dead bodies!

And yet, grave as are these prohibitions against taking life, it is stated that if a person acts as an enemy of the Lotus Sutra, then one who puts such a person to death is performing an act of outstanding benefit. And if this is so, then how could it possibly be right to offer alms and support to such a person? This is why King Sen’yo put to death 500 Brahman teachers, why the monk Kakutoku put to death a countless number of slanderers of the Law, and why the great monarch Ashoka put to death 108,000 non-Buddhists.

These rulers and monks were looked upon as the most worthy kings in the entire land of Jambudvipa, as the wisest of all among the observers of the precepts. King Sen’yo was later reborn as Shakyamuni Buddha, the monk Kakutoku was reborn as Kasho Buddha, and the great monarch Ashoka was recognized as a man who had attained the way.

Today Japan resembles the countries of these persons. It is a country where, whether they are observers of the precepts, breakers of the precepts or persons without precepts, whether they are rulers, ministers or common people, everyone joins together as one in slandering the Lotus Sutra. The situation is such that, even if one should strip off his own skin and transcribe the Lotus Sutra on it, or should offer his own flesh as alms, the country would still be certain to perish and that person himself would fall into hell, so great is his offense. The only remedy is to bar the way to the Shingon sect, the Nembutsu sect, the Zen sect and the observers of the precepts, and to devote oneself to the Lotus Sutra!

Those men who can recite from memory the sixty volumes of the Tendai sect and who are thought by the ruler of the nation and the other authorities to be men of wisdom: is it because their wisdom fails them, or because, though they understand the true situation, they fear the world, that they praise the Shingon sect and join forces with the Nembutsu, Zen and Ritsu followers? Their guilt is a hundred, a thousand times greater than that of these followers! They may be compared to Shigeyoshi or Yoshimura.

The Great Teacher Tz’u-en wrote the ten-volume Hokke genzan, in which he praised the Lotus Sutra, and yet he fell into hell. This man was a leading disciple of the Tripitaka Master Hsuan-tsang, who was the teacher of Emperor T’ai-tsung, and was said to have been a reincarnation of the eleven-faced Kannon. The subject matter of his writings resembled the Lotus Sutra, but at heart it was identical with the sutras preached previous to the Lotus Sutra, and that was the reason he fell into hell.

The Great Teacher Chia-hsiang wrote the ten-volume Hokke genron, and that would under ordinary circumstances have condemned him to fall into the hell of incessant suffering. But he set aside his own manner of reading the Lotus Sutra and served the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai, and thus was able to escape the pains of hell.

The men of the Hokke sect today are like these men. Mount Hiei should be a stronghold of the Lotus Sutra, and Japan should be a country devoted to the teachings of the single vehicle. And yet the Great Teacher Jikaku stole the post of chief priest of the sect that should have been devoted to the Lotus Sutra and instead became a chief priest of Shingon teachings, and all the three thousand priests of the mountain became his followers.

The Great Teacher Kobo stole the allegiance of Emperor Saga, who earlier had been a lay supporter of the Hokke sect, and turned the imperial palace into a temple of the Shingon sect.

Emperor Antoku, who relied on the chief priest Myoun as his teacher, had him pray with incantations for the defeat of the court minister Yoritomo. However, not only were these men punished by General of the Right Yoritomo, but in the end Emperor Antoku drowned in the western sea and Myoun was put to death by Yoshinaka.

The sovereign Takahira summoned the administrator of monks Jien, the Tendai chief priest, and other eminent priests of To-ji, Omuro and other temples, forty-one men in all, and had them erect a great altar in the imperial palace and perform incantations to overpower Yoshitoki, the acting administrator of the western sector of the capital. But on the seventh day, which fell on the fourteenth day of the sixth month, the capital was overwhelmed by Yoshitoki’s forces, the sovereigns were exiled to the province of Oki or to the island of Sado, the chief priest and the priests of Omuro and the others were severely reprimanded, and in some cases worried themselves to death.

The people of our time fail to understand the true origin of these events. This is entirely because they are confused as to the relative merit of the Lotus Sutra and the Dainichi Sutra.

And now, when Japan faces the threat of an attack from the great empire of the Mongols, we are told that the authorities are employing these same inauspicious doctrines in an attempt to overpower the Mongols through incantations. The daily records also make it clear that this is so. Can anyone who understands the true situation fail to sigh in sorrow?

How tragic, that we should be born in a country where people slander the True Law and should encounter such great hardships! Though we may escape being slanderers ourselves, how can we escape censure for belonging to a family of slanderers or a country of slanderers?

If you would escape censure for being a member of a family that includes slanderers, then speak to your parents or your brothers about this matter. Perhaps they will hate you for it, but perhaps they will put faith in your words.

If you would escape censure for living in a country where there are slanderers, then you should remonstrate with the sovereign, though you may be condemned to death or to exile. "We care nothing for our bodies or lives but are anxious only for the unsurpassed way," says the Lotus Sutra. And the commentary states, "One’s body is insignificant while the Law is supreme. One should give one’s life in order to propagate the Law."

The reason you have not succeeded in attaining Buddhahood from countless distant kalpas in the past down to the present is that, when a situation such as this has arisen, you have been too fearful to speak out. And in the future as well, this principle will prevail.

Now I, Nichiren, understand these things because of what I myself have undergone. But even if there are those among my disciples who understand them, they fear the accusations of the times and, believing that their lives, which are as frail as dew, are in fact to be relied upon, backslide, keep their beliefs hidden in their hearts or behave in other such ways.

A passage in the Lotus Sutra says that the sutra is "the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand," and I have learned the value of this passage through my own experience. Slanderers are as numerous as the particles of dust on the earth; believers are as few as the dirt that can be piled on a fingernail. Slanderers are a huge sea, upholders, one drop of water.

On Mount T’ien-t’ai there is a place called the Dragon Gate, which is a waterfall a thousand feet in height. At the beginning of spring the fish gather there and attempt to ascend the waterfall, and if there is one fish in a hundred or a thousand that succeeds in ascending the waterfall, it will become a dragon.

The current of this waterfall is swifter than an arrow or a flash of lightning. Not only is the waterfall difficult to ascend, but at the beginning of spring fishermen gather by the waterfall and spread hundreds and thousands of nets to catch the fish, or shoot arrows at the fish or scoop them up. Eagles, hawks, kites, owls, tigers, wolves, dogs and foxes gather there as well, day and night snatching up the fish and devouring them. Thus ten or twenty years may go by without a single fish changing into a dragon. It is like a person of common and humble station dreaming of being admitted to the palace of the emperor, or a woman of humble birth hoping to become empress.

And you should understand that taking faith in the Lotus Sutra is even more difficult than this.

The Buddha has constantly warned us, saying that no matter how great an observer of the precepts a person may be, no matter how lofty in wisdom and well versed in the Lotus Sutra and the other scriptures, if that person sees an enemy of the Lotus Sutra but fails to attack and denounce him or report him to the ruler of the nation, instead keeping silent out of fear of others, then he will invariably fall into the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering. Suppose, by way of analogy, that one oneself commits no treasonable act, but knows of someone who is plotting treason. If one fails to inform the ruler, then one is guilty of the same crime as the person who is plotting treason.

The Great Teacher Nan-yueh has stated: "If one sees a foe of the Lotus Sutra and yet fails to censure him, one becomes a slanderer of the Law and will fall into the hell of incessant suffering." Even a man of great wisdom, if he sees such a person and fails to speak out, will fall into the depths of the hell of incessant suffering, and as long as that hell shall endure, he will never escape.

I, Nichiren, fearing these admonitions of the Buddha, accordingly accused all those throughout the nation who were deserving of it, and more than once I was condemned to exile or to the death penalty. Believing that my past offenses had now been eradicated and that I was blameless of any fault, I left Kamakura to take up residence in this mountain, and since then seven years have passed.

Let me describe this mountain. In Japan there are seven marches, and it is in the march called the Takaido, which is made up of fifteen provinces. Within these is the province of Kai, where there are three village districts called Iino, Mimaki and Hakiri, and it is in the one called Hakiri. It is a remote mountain region that stretches over an area of more than twenty ri in the northwestern part of the district.

The northern part is Mount Minobu, the southern, Mount Takatori, the western, Mount Shichimen, and the eastern, Mount Tenshi. They are like boards set up on all four sides. Around the outside of this area run four rivers, the Fujigawa running north to south and the Hayakawa running west to east at the rear of the area, and before the area the Hakirigawa, which runs west to east, and its tributary, which has a waterfall and is called the Minobugawa. You might suppose that Eagle Peak had been moved from central India and set down here, or that Mount T’ien-t’ai had been brought from China.

In the midst of these four mountains and four rivers is a flat area no broader than the palm of a hand, and here I have built a little hut to shield me from the rain. I have peeled bark off trees to make my four walls, and wear a robe made of the hides of deer that died a natural death. In spring I break off ferns to nourish my body, and in autumn I gather fruit to keep myself alive. But since the eleventh month of last year the snow has been piling up, and now, when we are into the first month of the new year, it goes on snowing. My hut is seven feet in height, but the snow is piled up to a depth of ten feet. I am surrounded by four walls of ice, and icicles hang down from the eaves like a necklace of jewels adorning my place of religious practice, while inside my hut snow is heaped up in place of rice.

Even in ordinary times people seldom come here, and now, with the snow so deep and the roads blocked, I have no visitors at all. So at the moment I am atoning for the karma that destines me to fall into the eight cold hells and, far from attaining Buddhahood in this present life, I am like the cold-suffering bird. I no longer shave my head, so I look like a quail, and my robe gets so stiff with ice that it resembles the icy wings of the mandarin duck.

To such a place, where friends from former times never come to visit, where I have been abandoned even by my own disciples, you have sent these vessels, which I heap with snow, imagining it to be rice, and from which I drink water, thinking it to be gruel. Please let your thoughts dwell on the effects of your kindness. There is much more I would like to say.

With my deep respect,
Nichiren

The twenty-seventh day of the first month in the third year of Koan (1280)

Reply to Akimoto Taro Hyoe

The Third Day of the New Year 上野殿御返事（正月三日御書）

I received the sixty steamed rice cakes, one container of refined sake, fifty yams, twenty koji oranges¹ and one string of dried persimmons that you so kindly sent. I placed these various articles before the Lotus Sutra and presented them as offerings to the sutra on the third day of spring!²

Just as flowers open up and bear fruit, just as the moon appears and invariably grows full, just as a lamp becomes brighter when oil is added, and just as plants and trees flourish with rain, so will human beings never fail to prosper when they make good causes.

Moreover, the sincerity you showed in celebrating the third day of the new year exceeds even the sincerity you showed in commemorating the first day. The steamed rice cakes are like the full moon. I will write of other matters later.

Nichiren

The eleventh day of the first month in the third year of Koan (1280), Cyclical sign kanoe-tatsu

To Lord Ueno

King Rinda 曾谷殿御返事

This Gosho also called "輪陀王御書".

I have received the two sacks of parched rice you sent. Rice may seem like a very small thing, yet it is what sustains human life. And the Buddha says that life is something that cannot be purchased even for the price of an entire major world system.

Rice is what sustains life. It is like the oil that sustains the life of the lamp. The Lotus Sutra is a lamp, and its votary is the oil that sustains it. Or again, the lay supporters are the oil that sustains the lamp of the votary.

Among all the hundred flavors, the flavor of cow’s milk is the finest. The seventh volume of the Nirvana Sutra says: "Of all flavors, the finest is that of milk." When milk is treated, it becomes cream, and when cream is treated, it eventually becomes ghee. Of the five flavors represented by this process ghee is the finest.

If we employ these five flavors as similes for the various Buddhist teachings, we might say that the three thousand volumes of the Confucian school and the eighteen major scriptures of Brahmanism correspond to the flavors of ordinary foods. In comparison to these, even the Agon sutras are like the flavor of ghee.

[Among the Buddhist teachings,] the Agon sutras may be compared to the flavor of milk; the Kammuryoju and the other sutras of the Hodo period may be compared to the flavor of cream; the Hannya sutras may be compared to the flavor of curdled milk; the Kegon Sutra may be compared to the flavor of butter; and the Muryogi, Lotus and Nirvana sutras may be compared to the flavor of ghee.

Again, if the Nirvana Sutra is compared to the flavor of ghee, then the Lotus Sutra may be compared to a lord who rules over the five flavors. Thus the Great Teacher Miao-lo states: "If we discuss the matter from the point of view of the doctrines taught, then the Lotus Sutra stands as the true lord of all the teachings, since it alone preaches ‘opening the provisional and revealing the distant.’ This is the reason that it alone is permitted the word myo or ‘wonderful’ [in its title]. And he also says: "Therefore we understand that the Lotus Sutra is the true lord of the ghee."

These passages of commentary point out quite rightly that the Lotus Sutra is not to be included among the five flavors. The main import of these passages is that the five flavors are used to nourish life. But life itself is lord over all the five flavors.

The Tendai sect puts forth two views on this matter. The first is that the Kegon, Hodo, Hannya, Nirvana and Lotus sutras are all comparable to the flavor of ghee. This view would seem to be based on the opinion that the sutras preached previous to the Lotus Sutra and the Lotus Sutra itself are similar in nature. The scholars of the world are familiar only with this particular view, and are not familiar with the doctrine that the Lotus Sutra is the lord of the five flavors. Hence they are deceived and led astray by the other sects of Buddhism.

The view that, although the Lotus and other sutras differ with regard to whether or not they open up and incorporate the expedient means, they all represent the perfect teaching -- this is a doctrine that reflects the meaning of the theoretical teaching. However, the view that the various sutras mentioned above correspond to the five flavors, while the Lotus Sutra represents the lord of the five flavors -- this is a doctrine that reflects the essential teaching. This doctrine was touched upon by T’ien-t’ai and Miao-lo in their writings, but it was not clearly enunciated. This is why there are few scholars who are aware of it.

In the passage of commentary by Miao-lo quoted above, the words "If we discuss the matter from the point of view of the doctrines taught" refer to the daimoku or title of the Lotus Sutra, which is what is meant by "the doctrines taught." The words "opening the provisional" correspond to the character ge in the five-character daimoku, Myoho-renge-kyo. The words "revealing the distant" correspond to the character ren in the five-character daimoku. The words "it alone is permitted the word myo" correspond to the character myo. And the words "This is the reason" refer to the fact that when we speak of the Lotus Sutra as the essence of the lifetime teachings of the Buddha, we have in mind the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore one should understand that the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra represents the soul of all the sutras; it represents the eye of all the sutras.

The Lotus Sutra should by rights be employed in eye-opening ceremonies to insure their effectiveness. But instead of that, the Dainichi and other sutras are employed in eye-opening ceremonies for all the various wooden or painted images of Buddhas. As a result, none of the Buddha images in the temples and pagodas of Japan, though their forms resemble that of the Buddha, are really Buddhas in mind. Rather they have the minds of ordinary beings who live in the nine lower worlds. The custom of revering stupid and ignorant teachers as though they were wise men began with this.

Such practices simply waste the funds of the nation; they do not produce effective prayers. On the contrary, the Buddhas are thereby transformed; they turn into devils and demons. This is what is causing distress to the ruler of the nation and the common people.

And now, because the votary of the Lotus Sutra and his lay supporters have appeared, people behave like the many kinds of ordinary beasts who hate the lion, king of beasts, or like the plants and trees that tremble before the icy wind. But I will say no more of that.

Why is the Lotus Sutra superior to other sutras? Why is it needed for the sake of all living beings? Let me give a simile.

The plants and trees have the earth as their mother, the sky as their father, the sweet rains as their food, the wind as their spirit, and the sun and moon as their wet nurses, and in this way they grow to maturity, bring forth flowers and bear fruit. in the same manner, all living beings have the true aspect [of all phenomena] as their earth, the aspect-free nature as their sky, the one vehicle as their sweet rain, and the pronouncement that the Lotus Sutra is foremost among all the sutras that the Buddha preached, now preaches or will preach, as their great wind. "Adorned with the power of meditation and wisdom" as their sun and moon, they nurture the blessings of perfect enlightenment, put forth the flowers of great pity and great compassion, and bear the fruit of peaceful Buddhahood. Such is the way that all living beings are nourished.

Then again, all living beings sustain life through the things they eat. There are many kinds of food. Some beings feed on dirt, some feed on water, some eat fire and some eat wind. The insect called a kalakula feeds on wind, the creature called a mole feeds on dirt. Then there are some demons that eat human skin and flesh, bone and marrow, some that eat urine and dung, some that eat lives and some that eat voices. There are fish that eat stones and the baku beast that eats iron. And the gods of the earth, the heavenly deities, the dragon gods, the deities of the sun and moon, the heavenly kings Taishaku and Daibonten, the beings of the two vehicles, the bodhisattvas and the Buddhas taste and savor the Buddhist Law and make it their body and spirit.

Let me give another simile. Once in the past there lived a great ruler named King Rinda, a wise monarch who ruled over the entire land of Jambudvipa. Now what was it that this king lived on? He listened to the sound of white horses neighing, and thus nourished the growth of his body, provided rest and tranquillity for his body and mind, and ruled over his kingdom. This occurred in the same way that the creatures called frogs listen to the cries of their mothers and are thus enabled to grow; that the autumn bush clover blooms when it hears the crying of the deer; that the ivory plant puts forth buds when it hears the sound of thunder; or that the pomegranate flourishes when it encounters a stone.

This being the case, King Rinda had gathered together a number of white horses and was taking care of them. And because these white horses would neigh only when they caught sight of white swans, he also gathered together a number of white swans that he kept in his care. As a result, not only did the king himself enjoy peace and tranquillity, but the hundreds of officials and the thousands of attendants who served him also prospered. Throughout the realm, the wind and rain came in their proper season, and other countries bowed their heads in submission. This situation continued for a number of years.

But, perhaps because of an error in his rule, or perhaps because the rewards accruing from his karma were exhausted, the thousands and ten thousands of white swans suddenly disappeared, and the countless numbers of white horses ceased their neighing. And because the king could no longer hear the neighing of the white horses, he was like a flower that wilts or the moon when it is eclipsed. His skin changed color, his strength waned away, his six sense organs grew dull and clouded, and he became like a senile old man. His queen, too, became old and feeble. The hundreds of officials and the thousands of attendants lamented, not knowing what to do. The skies clouded over, the earth trembled, great winds and droughts appeared, and famines and pestilence occurred, until so many persons had died that their flesh piled up in mounds and their bones were like heaps of tiles. Moreover, the country was beset by attacks from other nations.

At this time the king, lamenting over what to do, concluded that the only recourse was to pray to the Buddhas and gods. From times past there had been non-Buddhist believers in the kingdom, and they were numerous in many regions of the land. There were also many persons who honored the Law of the Buddha and regarded it as a treasure of the state. The king, declaring that he would honor the teachings of whichever group was successful at attracting the white swans and causing the white horses to neigh, first commanded the non-Buddhist believers to try the effectiveness of their teachings. But though they carried out their efforts over several days, not a single white swan appeared, and the white horses failed to neigh.

Then the king ordered the non-Buddhists to cease their prayers and the Buddhists to make the attempt with theirs. At that time there was a young monk known as Bodhisattva Ashvaghosha or Horse Neigh. When he was summoned before the king, he said, "If Your Majesty will abolish the erroneous doctrines of the non-Buddhists throughout the kingdom and work to spread the Law of the Buddha, it will be easy enough to make the horses neigh!"

The king issued an edict that this should be done. Then Bodhisattva Ashvaghosha addressed prayers to the Buddhas of the three existences and the ten directions, whereupon a white swan immediately appeared. When the white horses caught sight of the white swan, they whinnied in a single voice. No sooner had the king heard the single neigh of the horses than he opened his eyes. As two white swans, and then hundreds and thousands of them appeared, the hundreds and thousands of white horses were instantly filled with joy and began neighing. The king’s complexion was restored to its original state, like the sun recovering from an eclipse, and the strength of his body and the perceptive powers of his mind became many hundreds and thousands of times greater than they had been before. The queen was overjoyed, the great ministers and high officials took courage, the common people pressed their palms together in reverence, and the other countries bowed their heads.

The situation in the world today is no different from this. The period during the seven reigns of the heavenly deities and the five reigns of the earthly deities, that is, the first twelve reigns in Japanese history, was like the kalpa of formation. The power of good fortune and the power derived from the keeping of the precepts that had been accumulated in previous existences were such that, although the people of the time made no great effort toward goodness, the country was still well governed and people lived long lives.

Then came the period of human sovereigns. During the first twenty-nine reigns, the power derived from observing the precepts in past existences began to weaken. Government affairs proceeded poorly, and for the first time the country was visited by the three calamities and seven disasters. But because the texts describing how the three sovereigns and five emperors of antiquity had governed the world were introduced from China, these could be used in paying honor to the gods and overcoming the calamities and disasters that beset the nation.

When Emperor Kimmei, the thirtieth human sovereign, came to the throne, the power derived from good fortune and the observance of the precepts in past existences had further weakened in the country. Many people appeared who were completely dominated by their evil minds. Good minds were weakened and evil minds prevailed. The teachings of the Confucian texts were so ineffectual, and the weight of people’s offenses was so great, that as a result the Confucian texts were abandoned and people turned instead to the Buddhist scriptures.

For example, Moriya paid honor to numerous gods who had appeared during the seven reigns of the heavenly deities and the five reigns of the earthly deities, praying that the Buddhist teachings would not spread and that the Confucian texts would be honored as they had been before. Prince Shotoku, on the other hand, took Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, as his object of worship, and adopted the Lotus Sutra and the other sutras as his scriptures. The two parties vied for supremacy, but in the end the gods were defeated, the Buddha emerged victorious, and just as had happened in India and China, the land of the gods for the first time became a land of the Buddha. The passage in the sutra that reads, "Now this threefold world is all my domain," was in the process of being fulfilled.

During the twenty-some reigns from Emperor Kimmei to Emperor Kammu, a period of 260 years or more, the Buddha was looked up to as the sovereign, and the gods were regarded as his years or more, the Buddha was looked up to as the sovereign, and the gods were regarded as his ministers. In this way the world was governed. But although the Buddhist teachings held a superior place and the gods an inferior one, the world was not well governed.

People began to question why this should be so; and in the reign of Emperor Kammu there appeared a sage known as the Great Teacher Dengyo who pondered the problem. "The gods have been defeated and the Buddha has emerged victorious," he asserted. "The Buddha is looked upon as the sovereign and the gods as his ministers; the relations between superior and inferior are correctly ordered in accordance with the rules of propriety, and therefore the nation should be well governed." How strange, then, that there is such unrest in the country! With this in mind, I began to examine all the sutras, and I realized that there is indeed a reason for such a state of affairs.

"The teachings of Buddhism have been guilty of a grave error. Among all the sutras, the Lotus Sutra ought to hold the position of sovereign, with the other sutras such as the Kegon, Daibon, Jimmitsu and Agon sutras occupying the position of minister or attendant or ordinary person. And yet the Sanron sect asserts that the Hannya sutras are superior to the Lotus Sutra, the Hosso sect holds that the Jimmitsu Sutra is superior to the Lotus Sutra, the Kegon sect holds that the Kegon Sutra is superior to the Lotus Sutra, while the Ritsu sect proclaims itself the mother of all the other sects. There is not a single votary of the Lotus Sutra, and those who do read and recite the Lotus Sutra have been, contrary to all expectations, derided and dismissed by the people of the world."

He proclaimed that because of this heaven was angered and the benevolent deities who would have guarded the nation found their powers weakened. And he declared that even though people praise the Lotus Sutra, they destroy its heart.

Then the priests of the seven major temples of Nara, of the fifteen great temples, and of all the temples and mountain monasteries throughout the country of Japan, hearing these words, were greatly incensed. "Mahadeva of India and the Taoist priests of China have appeared in our country!" they exclaimed. "They have taken on the form of this little monk known as Saicho! If anyone should encounter him, break his head in two and cut off his arms, beat him and curse him!"

But Emperor Kammu, being a wise ruler, inquired into and clearly perceived the truth of the matter, and concluded that the six sects of Nara were in error. For the first time he established a temple on Mount Hiei, making it the headquarters of the Tendai-Hokke sect. And he not only founded an ordination platform for the precepts of perfect and immediate enlightenment, but declared the Hokke sect to be superior to the six older sects connected with the seven major temples of Nara and the fifteen great temples.

In effect, the six sects came to be regarded as mere expedient teachings leading to the Lotus Sutra. It was like the earlier instance in which the gods yielded to the Buddha and became mere doorkeepers of Buddhism. Something like the same situation prevailed in Japan. For the first time it was made clear in this country that, as the sutra says, "[among those sutras] the Lotus is the foremost." A person who "is able to secretly expound the Lotus Sutra to one person" is the envoy of the Buddha, it declares, and for the first time such an envoy appeared in this country. For a period of twenty or more years, during the reigns of the three emperors Kammu, Heizei and Saga, throughout the entire country of Japan everyone was a votary of the Lotus Sutra.

But, just as the foul-smelling eranda tree exists in relation to the fragrant sandalwood, and just as Devadatta exists in relation to Shakyamuni, so at the same time as the Great Teacher Dengyo there appeared a sage known as the Great Teacher Kobo. He journeyed to China, studied the Dainichi Sutra and the teachings of the Shingon school, and then returned to Japan.

While the Great Teacher Dengyo was still alive, Kobo did not forcefully assert his contention that the Dainichi Sutra is superior to the Lotus Sutra. But after the Great Teacher Dengyo passed away, which was on the fourth day of the sixth month in the thirteenth year of the Konin era (822), he apparently concluded that the time had come to do so. Thus, in the fourteenth year of the Konin era, on the nineteenth day of the first month, the Great Teacher Kobo produced a document in which he ranked the Shingon teachings first, the teachings of the Kegon Sutra second, and those of the Lotus Sutra third. He also asserted that the Lotus Sutra is a doctrine of childish theory, that Shakyamuni Buddha is in the region of darkness, and that the men of the Tendai sect are thieves.

In this manner he attempted to deceive Emperor Saga by placing his own Shingon sect side by side with the seven older sects and asserting that the seven older sects represent mere expedient teachings, while the Shingon sect represents the ultimate truth.

In the period that followed, everyone throughout the country of Japan became a follower of the Shingon sect. In addition, a disciple of the Great Teacher Dengyo named Jikaku journeyed to China, where he made a thorough study of the secret doctrines of the Tendai and Shingon schools before returning to Japan. He wrote commentaries on two works, the Kongocho Sutra and the Soshitsuji Sutra, and founded a temple called Zento-in on Mount Hiei. In his commentaries he asserted that the Dainichi Sutra should be ranked first and the Lotus Sutra second, and he put forth countless other erroneous statements, just as Kobo had done earlier. I have touched upon this matter somewhat in my earlier letters.

This eminent teacher was followed by another, the Great Teacher Chisho, who propagated his teachings from the temple known as Onjo-ji. Among all the temples today, this one appears to me to be causing the greatest damage to the nation.

Among the three thousand priests of Mount Hiei there were some who, if Jikaku and Chisho had not insisted upon the point, would never have acknowledged the superiority of the Shingon teachings. But all of them had their mouths stopped and their minds deceived by Jikaku, also known as the Great Teacher Ennin; no one was able to say a word in opposition.

Moreover, the support lent by the ruler and his ministers surpassed even what it had been in the time of Dengyo and Kobo, so that Mount Hiei, the seven temples of Nara and indeed the whole country of Japan joined in declaring that the Lotus Sutra was inferior to the Dainichi Sutra. In the various temples where the Lotus Sutra had earlier been propagated, the teachings of the Shingon sect were now disseminated, and hailed as superior to the Lotus Sutra.

Four hundred years or more have passed since this situation developed. These erroneous opinions have continued to spread, and five sovereigns, from the eighty-first ruler of Japan to the eighty-fifth, have lost their thrones. Because the Buddhist way has fallen into decline, the way of the sovereign has likewise declined.

In addition, the major erroneous doctrine known as the Zen sect and the minor erroneous doctrine called the Nembutsu sect have joined the great evil doctrine called Shingon, and these evil sects now stand side by side, holding sway over the entire country. The goddess Tensho Daijin has lost heart and no longer protects her charges; Great Bodhisattva Hachiman has been sapped of his power and authority and has ceased to guard and defend the nation. In the end we are doomed to become the prey of foreign lands.

I, Nichiren, viewing this state of affairs and fearful of the warning about one who "is betraying Buddhism," and about one who "will fall into hell along with...," have attempted to inform the ruler of the nation of the general situation. But he, led astray by erroneous doctrines, refuses to believe me. On the contrary, he has become a deadly enemy.

Although I try to point out that this country is full of people who would like to do away with the Lotus Sutra, no one understands me, and so they merely go on committing errors of stupidity. And now, in addition, a votary of the Lotus Sutra has made his appearance, so that the people of Japan, on top of their stupidity, give way to anger, favoring erroneous teachings and viewing the correct teaching with hatred. In a country where the three poisons [of greed, anger and stupidity] prevail to such a degree, how can there be peace and stability?

In the kalpa of decline, the three major calamities will occur, namely, the calamities of fire, water and wind. And in the kalpa of decrease, the three minor calamities will occur, namely, famine, pestilence and warfare. Famine occurs as a result of greed, pestilence as a result of stupidity, and warfare as a result of anger.

At present the people of Japan number 4,994,828 men and women, all of them different persons but all alike infected by the three poisons. And these three poisons occur because of their relationship with Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. So all of these people at the same moment set out to curse, attack, banish and do away with Shakyamuni, Taho and all the other Buddhas of the ten directions. This is what leads to the appearance of the three minor calamities.

And now I wonder what karma from past existences has caused Nichiren and his associates to become the proponents of the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra? It seems to me that at present Bonten, Taishaku, the deities of the sun and moon, the Four Heavenly Kings, Tensho Daijin, Great Bodhisattva Hachiman and all the major and minor gods of the 3,132 shrines throughout Japan are like King Rinda of past times, that the white horses are Nichiren, and the white swans are my followers. The neighing of the white horses is the sound of our voices chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. When Bonten, Taishaku, the deities of the sun and moon, the Four Heavenly Kings and the others hear this sound, how could they fail to take on a healthy color and shine with a brilliant light? How could they fail to guard and protect us? We should be firmly convinced of this!

In the memorial service held this last third month, you donated numerous strings of coins. As a result, this year we have been able to support over a hundred men at this mountain dwelling, and they are able to read and recite the Lotus Sutra and discuss its doctrines all day long. In this latter age and evil period, this represents the foremost Buddhist practice in the entire Jambudvipa world. How pleased must the spirits of your departed ancestors be! Shakyamuni Buddha said that a person who observes filial piety deserves to be called a World-Honored One. Are not you yourself just such a World-Honored One?

The matter of the late Daishin Ajari was surely most regrettable. But we should consider that what has happened will serve to further spread the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.

If my life is spared, there are many other things I want to write to you about on some future occasion.

Nichiren

The seventeenth day of the eighth month in the second year of Koan (1279), cyclical sign tsuchinoto-u

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