HO-ON JO
I, Nichiren, believe my compassion is boundless because I am devoting myself to salvation of all mankind, overcoming many persecutions. Therefore, “Namu Myoho Renge Ryo,” the teaching for the people in the Latter Age of the Declining Law, will spread forever beyond the ten-thousand-year period. It has the merit of curing the (religious) blindness of all people and blocks the way to hell. This merit is superior to those of Dengyo of Japan, T’ien-t’ai of China, Nagarjuna of India, and Kasyapa, who was the Buddha’s disciple.
Therefore, the practice for a hundred years in the peaceful Pure Land is not worth the merit of chanting Odaimoku for one day in this defiled world. Propagation of the Lotus Sutra in the two-thousand-year period following the death of the Buddha does not give benefit as much as spreading Odaimoku for a while in the Latter Age of the Declining Law. This is not due to my wisdom; it is solely due to the time of the Latter Age in which I live.
(Background ; July 21, 1276, 54 years old, at Minobu, Showa Teihon, p.1248)
Explanatory note
What is the truth of humankind? This has been a long quest in human history. The development of human society was only possible through this quest, and our ancestors had sought the fundamental truth by physical and spiritual training. In other words, the history of humankind is the history of seeking happiness. Civilization has proved that happiness could be attained not by satisfaction of one’s own self but by faith in truth.
However, the quick development of the modern science made us forget this fundamental spirit of humankind, and the civilization that our ancestors have built up is in danger of being corrupted because modern people became more selfish and forgot to work together with others in harmony.
Buddhism also has tried to find true nature of humankind which Buddha taught us. In this modern age, we, Buddhists, should not neglect to find the true spirit of Buddhism and the true mind of the Buddha Sakyamuni.
It is easy to chant “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.” But it is difficult to understand and believe it, unless we find the true teaching and salvation of the Lotus Sutra, which the Buddha Sakyamuni revealed to us. “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo” was what the Buddha had kept deep in the sutra, and Nichiren Daishonin has revealed it for the first time in the thirteenth century. Nichiren believed that Odaimoku was the most important virtue he could leave behind for us in Buddhist history and proudly announced it to people. He said that it is most important for us to have faith in the teaching and practice in this real world, rather than to practice it in the Pure Land.
Although we read this “Ho-on Jo” quite often without thinking deeply, we must think of the true meaning of the words which Nichiren showed us.
We receive Odaimoku and preserve it in our bodies. At the same time we attain Buddhahood as a natural result of accepting and maintaining the “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. ”
Rev. Akahoshi
Phrase A Day