Author: John Hughes

I am sorry to trouble you, but I would like to inform you of one thing in advance. This master, Nichiren Shōnin, is the one and only master of virtue and is a sagacious and irreplaceable person. If the worst should happen, you would surely be sorry. It is rather foolish for you not to believe in him just because the people in the world do not believe in him. When the rulers of Japan put faith in him, everyone will believe in him. It will be useless for you to believe in him then. Putting faith in him because the rulers of Japan believe in him means that you believe in a man, not the dharma. The people in the world think that children must obey their parents, retainers obey their lord, and disciples follow their masters, but this is a wrong idea held by those who know neither Buddhism nor non-Buddhist teachings. In the Filial Piety, a Confucian classic, it is stated that when a father makes a mistake, his son should remonstrate with him, and that when a lord makes a mistake, his retainer should admonish him. In Buddhism it is preached: “He who enters Buddhism, discarding the favors of his parents, is one who truly compensates the favors received from his parents.”

Prince Siddhārtha, who had become a monk against the wishes of His father, King Suddodana, became the Buddha to lead His parents to Buddhahood. In the end He became the most filial son in the world. Filial Pi-kan was killed for remonstrating his father, King Chou Hsin of the Yin Dynasty, and left behind the fame of being a man of wisdom. If you disregard what I say as words of a petty monk, I am sure you will regret it not only in the present life but also in the one to come.

Shimoyama Goshōsoku, The Shimoyama Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Page 60

As explained in the Introduction to this letter: “In the sixth month of the 3rd year of the Kenji era (1277), Nichiren Shōnin wrote a letter of explanation in place of Inaba-bō Nichiei, a disciple of Nichiren, and submitted it to Nichiei’s father, Shimoyama Hyōgo Gorō Mitsumoto. … Nichiei and his father had been devotees of the nembutsu. Nichiei, however, was converted by Nichiren on Mt. Minobu and became his disciple, abandoning the nembutsu piety. This letter is an explanation of his religious principle to his father, Mitsumoto.”

Underscored here for me is the idea that not believing in Nichiren because of what others say or believing in Nichiren only because of what others say “means that you believe in a man, not the dharma.” Nichiren frequently admonished listeners to focus on the Dharma, not the man. After all, it is the Dharma, not the man, that will lead you to enlightenment.

One interesting aspect of this volume of biographical letters is the insight into Nichiren’s life. For example, this story of how Nichiei first heard Nichiren:

In the summer of the eleventh year of the Bun’ei Era (1274), Nichiren Shōnin, who has recently become widely known in Japan, came to live in seclusion at the foot of an isolated mountain called Mt. Minobu located in the districts of Iino, Mimaki, and Hakii in the same province of Kai, to which Shimoyama also belongs. Even those of considerably high social standing are not allowed to listen to him preach except if they have special connections.

Having heard of a certain person seeing Nichiren, I sneaked into the backyard of his hermitage and hid myself. I did not intend to become a follower but wanted just to have a glance at how things were. I could roughly hear what he preached as he answered questions.

This lengthy letter included several notes that I’ll include here for future reference:

“Jigage” of the Lotus Sutra

The sixteenth chapter on the “Life Span of the Buddha” ends with a verse. As this verse begins with the phrase “ji-ga-toku-butsu-rai, ” it is called “jiga-ge (jiga verse).” This is the most important part of the Lotus Sūtra because it teaches us that Śākyamuni Buddha is original and eternal, and that He always shows His mercy to us. In its last stanza the Buddha utters:
I am always thinking:
“How shall I cause all living beings
To enter the unsurpassed way
And quickly become Buddhas?”

Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō

“Myōhōrengekyō” is the full title of the Lotus Sūtra, the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. With the word of “namu (I revere),” this phrase is called the daimoku, myōgendai, or gendai (wonderful title). Nichiren states in his “Shishin-gohon-shō,’ ” Myōhōrengekyō, which consists of the five Chinese characters, is neither a mere phrase nor a doctrine of the sūtra, but the soul of the Lotus Sūtra consisting of twenty-eight chapters.’ In his “Kanjin-hozon-shō ( A Treatise on the Spiritual Contemplation and Most Venerable One), Nichiren declares: “The gist of these passages is that Śākyamuni Buddha’s merit of practicing the bodhisattva way leading to Buddhahood, as well as that of preaching and saving all living beings since His attaining Buddhahood are altogether contained in the five words of myō, hō, ren, ge, and kyō (wonderful, dharma, lotus flower and sūtra); and that consequently, when we uphold these five words, the merits which He accumulated before and after His attainment of Buddhahood are naturally transferred to us.” It is believed by Nichiren Buddhists that chanting this sacred title or the daimoku is the only way to attain Buddhahood.

Original and Eternal Buddha

When Nichiren Buddhists adore Śākyamuni Buddha, they pray: “With reverence we adore the Buddha Śākyamuni, the Great Benefactor, the Original and Eternal Teacher who attained Buddhahood in the remotest past. (Manual of Nichiren Buddhism published by the Headquarters of the Nichiren Shū in July, 1995). Kuon-jitsujō or eternal and original: This phrase expresses that Śākyamuni Buddha has been enlightened in the eternal past as revealed in the 16th chapter of the Lotus Sūtra. According to this chapter the Buddha had already been enlightened an immeasurably long time ago, and Śākyamuni Buddha, who attained enlightenment at Buddhagayā, is merely a provisional manifestation of this Original and Eternal Buddha. This Buddha, however, is not different from the Buddha being adored at Buddhagayā. It is recommended for readers to read this chapter and some of Nichiren’s works. The Lotus Sūtra states that Śākyamuni Buddha was enlightened, not for the first time under the bodhi tree at Buddhagayā, but in the remotest past, which is usually called five hundred dust particle nayuta kalpa ago; since then He has shown mercy by taking various measures for saving beings with no discrimination.

As you know, I, Nichiren, have been eagerly studying since childhood and began praying when I was twelve years old to Bodhisattva Space Repository to help me to become the wisest in Japan. The reason for my prayers was complicated, too complicated to explain here in detail. Later I first began to study the doctrines of the Pure Land and Zen Sects. Then I studied the doctrines of the Tendai and Shingon Sects on Mt. Hiei, at the Onjōji Temple, and on Mt. Kōya. I further studied the doctrines of the various sects at temples in Kyoto and the provinces, but these studies did not serve to clear up the doubts I had in mind about Buddhism.

In my initial prayer I made a vow that: I would not favor any particular sect; I would adopt whichever sect that provided the evidence of being the teaching of the Buddha and was reasonable; I would be guided solely by the sūtras, not by the commentators in India, translators and minister-masters in China; I would not be afraid, regarding the doctrines of Buddhism, of even being punished by a king, not to mention persecutions by the people below him; I would not follow instructions against the Buddha’s teachings even if they were given by my parents, teacher and elder brother; and that I would speak up honestly as expounded in the sūtras regardless of whether or not people believed in me.

Ga Ryōkan-tō Gosho, A Letter Refuting Ryōkan-bō and Others, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Page 60

It is important to remember that Nichiren was not an ordinary priest. He made a great vow and even his detractors have to agree that he kept that vow.