Having last month heard the story of Never-Despising Bodhisattva in gāthās, we conclude Chapter 20, Never-Despising Bodhisattva.
Never-Despising [Bodhisattva] at that time
Was myself.
The four kinds of devotees,
Who were attached to views at that time,
Were able to meet innumerable Buddhas
After they heard
The words of Never-Despising [Bodhisattva]:
“You will become Buddhas.”
They are now present here
In this congregation.
They are the five hundred Bodhisattvas
And the four kinds of devotees
Including men and women of pure faith,
Who are now hearing the Dharma from me.
In my previous existence
I encouraged them
To hear this sūtra,
That is, the most excellent Dharma.
In all my previous existences
I taught them the Way to Nirvana.
But really this is the sūtra
I taught them to keep.
This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
Can be heard only once
In hundreds of millions of billions of kalpas,
That is, in an inconceivable number of kalpas.
The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones,
Expound this sūtra only once
In hundreds of millions of billions of kalpas,
That is, in an inconceivable number of kalpas.
Therefore, anyone who hears this sūtra
And practices the Way
After my extinction,
Should have no doubts about [this sūtra].
He should expound this sūtra with all his heart;
Then he will be able to meet Buddhas
Throughout all his existences,
And quickly attain the enlightenment of the Buddha.
Since the appearance of Professor James’ “Varieties of Religious Experience,” (1902) the attention of scholars has been strongly drawn toward men of original religious experience, with emphasis on the psychological point of view, disregarding doctrinal considerations. A conspicuous result of the change brought about by this book is that religious psychology has been extended from a study of material taken from the average masses, to the study of strong personalities and their characteristic faith. The primary motive of the present work is to contribute to this newer branch of religious psychology a study of a man who has been comparatively unknown to Western scholars. Another impetus to the publication of this study was derived from the encouragement given by Professor Royce. After reading his book, “The Problem of Christianity,” I presented to him an essay on the Buddhist conception of life, as a counterpart of his chapter on the Christian doctrine of life. A reference to Nichiren made in that paper led me to tell the senior philosopher of Harvard more about the Buddhist prophet. The present volume is a result of his advice and encouragement to write something on Nichiren.
Nichiren’s personality has various peculiar interests of its own. Besides the points which I have tried to bring out in this book, it is deserving of special mention that a great amount of material for the study of his life is available in his numerous writings, amounting to more than four hundred essays and epistles. Not only have most of them been proved to be authentic, but about one-third are preserved in Nichiren’s original handwriting, while many others have come down to us in old manuscripts made by his disciples or later followers. These authentic writings contain ample and trustworthy sources for the study of his life and thought, and nearly every step of his development, his struggles, and his faith can be clearly traced in them; for Nichiren was a man who told much about himself, his experiences and ambitions, his thoughts and sentiments. Moreover, he was an unexcelled calligrapher, and his autographs have a characteristic vividness of expression, due to the picture-like forms of the Chinese ideographs. Thus, not only can his thoughts and the incidents of his life be learned from his own words and sentences, but the modulations and changes of sentiment and emotion can be closely followed in his writings. It is rare that the works of an ancient author are so well preserved and furnish us so abundantly with the means of investigating his career and ideas as in this case. In the present sketch all traditions and legends of later growth have been excluded, and all the main points, as well as many minor details, are related exclusively on the basis of Nichiren’s own statements. For this reason, it may be regarded as virtually a record of Nichiren’s own confessions, and as such, it will, I hope, be found a useful study in the religious psychology of a prophetic leader.
To the intrinsic interest of the life of Nichiren as a Buddhist reformer of the thirteenth century, may be added the fact that there has been a noteworthy revival of his teaching and spirit in modem Japan. Details about this revival, as well as the growth of Nichiren’s influence after his death, will be treated in my forthcoming book on the Religious and Moral Development of the Japanese.
Perhaps I may be permitted to say a little concerning my personal relation to the Nichirenite revival. It was during my stay in England and India that my dear friend, Chogyū Takayama, was converted to Nichiren’s faith and that I criticized him in correspondence. Takayama’s conversion caused a great stir, and though there were adverse critics, there were also enthusiastic admirers, especially among the younger generation, who flocked to the ardent convert and his accepted prophet. Since then, many societies have been organized for the study — both historical and religious — of Nichiren, and their membership comprises students and scholars, lawyers and businessmen, military and naval officers. When I returned to Japan in June 1903, my friend had already been dead six months; but his influence was rapidly growing, and he who had once been called “the Nietzsche of Japan” was regarded as the standard-bearer of the Nichirenite revival. The task of editing Takayama’s writings gave me occasion to study the process of his conversion, together with the life and personality of his prophet. Further studies have brought me into closer and closer touch with Nichiren’s faith and thoughts. The consequence is that in writing this book I have always been tempted to tell the story fully and have found it difficult to decide how much should be omitted. At any rate, I offer this little volume to the public with a full confidence that I have not misrepresented the great teacher.
I cannot let this book appear without expressing my deep gratitude to Professor Josiah Royce and Professor George F. Moore. The former, as I have said above, showed his interest in the subject and gave me valuable aid by reading through the manuscript and suggesting various points that might with advantage be recast, for all of which I am very grateful. Professor Moore has kindly revised the manuscript, made arrangements for publication, and consented to read the proofs. Indeed, without such encouragement and assistance from my fatherly colleagues at Harvard this publication would not have been possible. The present volume will always recall to me pleasant memories of my delightful stay at Harvard, during my two years of work there. I hope that I may soon give another humble sign of my homage to Harvard by a publication dealing with the religious and moral history of Japan, which was the subject of my lectures there.
M. Anesaki.
Cambridge, Massachusetts, June 9th, 1915,
the six hundred and thirty-fourth anniversary of the arrival of the Mongol armada at the Bay of Hakata.
Beginning today and continuing through Aug. 25, I will serialize “Nichiren, The Buddhist Prophet” by Masaharu Anesaki.
First published in 1916, the book is now in the public domain. I’ve had excerpts from the book on this website since August 2016 but recently I decided it would be worthwhile to re-read the book and, while I was at it, chop it up into digestible pieces to make it more appealing to general audiences.
Anesaki is famous enough to merit an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of Buddhism:
Professor of Japanese Literature and Life at Harvard University and Professor of the Science of Religion at Tokyo Imperial University, he was Japan’s leading writer on Japanese religious history. His writings on Shintō and Japanese Buddhism, especially Nichiren Buddhism, as well as his general works on Japanese religion, formed some of the earliest scholarly reports on Japanese religious life to become available in the West.
His book on Nichiren is considered a classic. University of Hawaii professor David W. Chappell, in a review of an English translation of Nichiren’s major writings, had occasion to mention that “Anesaki’s pioneering study in 1916 remains the best introduction.”
And yet Anesaki’s book on Nichiren is not without its detractors. In particular, he is criticized for his extensive use of Roman Catholic imagery to explain Buddhist terms and Nichiren’s ambitions.
When taken out of context, Anesaki’s use of Christian imagery is jarring:
“Behold, the kingdom of God is within you!” This was the creed of Nichiren also, witnessed by his life, confirmed by the Scripture, and supported by his metaphysical speculation.
This idea gradually crystallized in Nichiren’s mind into a definite plan for establishing the center of the universal church, the Holy See, the Kaidan.
But substitute Buddha Nature for “Kingdom of God” and Lotus Sutra for “Scripture” and this becomes a wholly conventional view of Nichiren’s teaching. While objection can be made to Anesaki’s association of Nichiren’s Kaidan – the Precept Platform and the second of the Three Great Secret Dharmas – with the Roman Catholic Holy See, is it inaccurate within the context of Nichiren’s efforts to have the Japanese government establish faith in the Lotus Sutra as the sole Buddhist teaching in medieval Japan?
In my editing to prepare the book for serialization, I’ve added clarifying information within square brackets. Anesaki’s “Scripture” is restored to Lotus Sutra. References to “Sole Road” are changed to One Vehicle. I’ve also changed his spelling to maintain consistency with content on this website: Chi-ki becomes Chih-i. Anesaki further introduced a certain level of confusion by referring to Chih-i as “Tendai” rather than T’ien T’ai. On several occasions Anesaki made references to the “great masters Tendai and Dengyō.” I’ve also removed all of his efforts to translate Medieval lunar calendar dates into solar calendar equivalents. (See Calendar: East Meets West.)
I have, in effect, made this book my own. Readers are encouraged to download the PDF copy of the book as originally published.
All this begs the question: Why bother?
To answer that I offer a quote from the book. When reading this quote you are asked to substitute Ichinen Sanzen for “mutual participation,” Gohonzon for “graphic representation of the Supreme Being,” Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō for “Sacred Title” and the Eternal Śākyamuni Buddha as revealed in Chapter 16 for “Supreme Being” and the “Lord of the Universe.”
Vain is all talk and discussion concerning existences and reality, unless the virtues of existence are realized in one’s own person. Noble and sublime may be the conception of the Supreme Being, but it is but an idol or image, a dead abstraction, if we ourselves do not participate in its supreme existence and realize in ourselves its excellent qualities. Thus, worship or adoration means a realization of the Supreme Being, together with all its attributes and manifestations, first, through our own spiritual introspection, and second in our life and deeds. The practice of introspection is carried on in religious meditation. This, however, does not necessarily mean intricate and mysterious methods, such as are employed by many Buddhists; the end can be attained by uttering the Sacred Title, and by gazing in reverence at the graphic representation of the Supreme Being as revealed by Nichiren. The truths of universal existence and “mutual participation” remain abstractions if detached from the true moral life; but any morality, however perfect it may seem, is vain apart from the profound conviction in the truth of the “mutual participation,” and from an apprehension of our primeval relation to the Lord of the Universe.
Thus, to participate in the virtues of the Supreme Being is the aim of worship; but that participation means nothing but the restoration of our primeval connection with the eternal Buddha, which is equivalent to the realization of our own true nature. In other words, the true self of every being is realized through full participation in the virtues of the Supreme Being, who, again, reveals himself – or itself – in the perfect life of every believer. The relation between the worshipped and the worshipper exemplifies most clearly the truth of “mutual participation,” because the worshipped, the Supreme Being, is a mere transcendence if it does not reveal itself in the believer’s life, while the worshipped realizes his true being and mission only through the elevating help (adhiṣṭāna) of the Supreme Being. Thus, mutual participation is at the same time mutual revelation – realization of the true being through mutual relationship, to be attained by us through spiritual introspection and moral living. Religious worship, in this sense, is at the same time moral life; and moral relationships in the human world are nothing but partial aspects of the fundamental correlation between us and the Supreme Being. The point to be emphasized in regard to this conception of the religious relation is that the Supreme Being alone, without our worship of it in enlightenment and life, is not a perfect Being, just as, without a child, “father” is but an empty name, if not a contradiction in terms.
I can think of no better explanation of Nichiren Buddhism.
In serializing the book I’ve decided to reorder things a bit. After the Preface, which appears today, I’m moving two Appendix chapters – The Fundamental tenets of Buddhism concerning reality and T’ien T’ai’s doctrines of the Middle Path and reality – to the front in order to provide background useful when reading Anesaki’s description of Nichiren’s teachings. I’ve arbitrarily divided these appendices into three and two parts, respectively. For the main biography of Nichiren, I have used the book’s Table of Contents to create the daily portions. Some are very short, others much longer:
Whatever happens to you, have a firm faith and keep yourself as a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra and join the ranks of my followers. As long as you agree with me, you will be one of the bodhisattvas who emerged from the earth. And if you are determined to be a bodhisattva of the earth, there is no doubt that you have been a disciple of the Original Śākyamuni Buddha from the remotest past. The “Emerging from the Earth” chapter states, “I have been teaching and converting these people ever since the eternal past.”
Shohō Jisso-shō, Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 78
Just as a reflection is seen
In a clear mirror,
All things in the world will be reflected
On the pure body of this [person, that is, of this] Bodhisattva.
No one but he
Will be able to see all things clearly.
The Buddha declares these lines to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. When we encounter other beings in this world of conflict, we tend to filter our experience through our expectation. If it is a friend, we expect them to care about us and treat us well; an enemy, to harm us and treat us badly; a stranger, we compare them to other beings like them and expect them to be the same. When we use the Buddha Dharma to look for the complexity of all beings, and look for how we can bring out their ability to benefit and protect others, then we reflect back to them their true natures, rather than the clouds of their delusions.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 24 concludes Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma, and closes the Sixth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month considered the twelve hundred merit of the tongue, we consider he twelve hundred merit of the tongue in gāthās.
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
Their tongues will be purified.
Their tongues will not receive anything bad.
Anything they at will become
As delicious as nectar.
When they expound the Dharma to the great multitude
And lead them
By telling them the stories of previous lives, parables, and similes
With their deep, pure and wonderful voices,
The hearers will rejoice
And make excellent offerings to them.
All gods, dragons,
Yakṣas and asuras
Will come together
And hear the Dharma respectfully.
Anyone who expounds the Dharma, if he wishes,
Will be able to cause the living beings
Of the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds
To hear his wonderful voice.
The wheel-turning-kings of great and small [countries],
Who have each one thousand children,
Will come with their children and attendants,
And join their hands together respectfully to hear the Dharma.
Gods, dragons, yakṣas,
Raksasas and pisacakas
Also will come joyfully,
And make offerings to him.
The Brahman-Heavenly-King,
King Mara, Freedom [God],
Great-Freedom [God],
And the other gods also will come to him.
The Buddhas and their disciples who hear
The voice of the expounder of the Dharma,
Will think of him, protect him,
And sometimes appear before him.
Anyone who expounds the Dharma, if he wishes,
Will be able to cause the living beings
Of the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds
To hear his wonderful voice.
The Buddha sings these verses to Constant-Endeavor Bodhisattva in Chapter Nineteen of the Lotus Sūtra, describing those who keep the Lotus Sūtra. When we learn to hear the voice of the Wonderful Dharma, we recognize it in everything that surrounds us. When we speak with the voice of the Wonderful Dharma, we are in accord with the reality of all things. There is no need to distinguish between our voice and the voice of the Ever-Present Buddha who is always thinking of how to lead all beings to enlightenment. The only thing that blocks this voice is the comfort of our own attachment and delusion.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Finally, after more than a year, Rev. Kenjo Igarashi ventured into the congregation of the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church to give his monthly Kito Blessing. During the pandemic Rev. Igarashi had to provide the purification blessing remotely from the altar stage without moving about the congregation.
Rev. Igarashi said afterward during his sermon that this had been a special kito blessing in which he “looked into your mind” to see if those he was blessing were being affected by harmful spirits. In my case, he pulled me aside after the service to say that he felt the presence of a deity working on my behalf and asked if I had any ideas on which deity it might be. No clue, I said, but I pointed out that it was quite possible that a deity had been working to bring me and him together since he arrived in Sacramento in 1989. At that time I was recently divorced and looking to buy a new home. By chance (read: helped by deity?) I found a house just down the street from the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church. I didn’t know anything about Nichiren Shu at the time, having only just joined Nichiren Shoshu, but I’m sure it would not have taken 25 years for me to start attending Rev. Igarashi’s services. Alas, unhelpful spirits working at the CalVet Loan agency discouraged me from buying that home.
During the sermon Rev. Igarashi stressed the importance of his purification ceremony, especially for new members. He said he has resumed his monthly trips to Chicago, where he ministers to “the young ones.” The oldest member, he said, is maybe 38. That’s close to the age of the youngest person who regularly attends services in Sacramento. At 69, I’m in the middle of the average. Our oldest active member is 93, and she still drives herself to services.
Rev. Igarashi contrasted the motivation of the “young ones” to get benefits to the people who attend in Sacramento because their parents and grandparents attended. That seemed harsh to me, but you can’t deny that Sacramento is sorely lacking in “young ones” seeking immediate benefits.
Rev. Igarashi pointed out that everyone who practices is equipped with the same tools with which to reach their goals, whatever those goals may be. Each person who practices has a strong bow and a straight arrow with which to hit their target. These are the Lotus Sutra and the Daimoku. The only difference is in the strength of the archer. That strength – the ability to bend the bow to the archer’s will and send the arrow flying to pierce the target – is a measure of our faith. Those who chant and practice develop strong faith and that faith allows those people to hit their targets.
[The correct interpretation of conditioned co-arising involves] another fourfold classification: clarification of twelvefold conditioned co-arising conceptually understood as arising and perishing; clarification of twelvefold conditioned co-arising conceptually understood as neither arising nor perishing; clarification of twelvefold conditioned co-arising as beyond conceptual understanding yet as arising and perishing; and clarification of twelvefold conditioned co-arising as beyond conceptual understanding and as neither arising nor perishing.375
The Buddha remonstrates us in the Nirvana Sūtra, “Be careful. It is better to be killed by a wild elephant than to be misled by an ‘evil friend (leader)’ (as the elephant destroys only the body but the ‘evil friend’ leads us to hell and ruins both body and mind).”
Kyō Ki Ji Koku Shō, Treatise on the Teaching, Capacity, Time and Country, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 103
World-Honored One! It is difficult for anyone in the world to believe this. It is as difficult as to believe a handsome, black-haired man twenty-five years old who points to men a hundred years old and says, ‘They are my sons,’ or as to believe men a hundred years old who point to a young man and say, ‘This is our father. He brought us up.’
Maitreya Bodhisattva explains his perplexity to the Buddha in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha has just revealed that all of the Bodhisattvas who have appeared from underground to continue teaching the Wonderful Dharma after the extinction of the Buddha have been taught by the Buddha in the time since he became enlightened. Maitreya realizes that his doubts are no different from the doubts of those gathered to hear the Buddha teach and asks the Buddha to explain. The Buddha says later that he sees the world differently than other living beings. But this does not mean that when our experience does not match what the Buddha teaches, we must keep silence and just accept what he tells us. It is only through sincere questioning that we find the Buddha’s mind and make it our own.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
