Conceptual Summary
The illustration vividly captures the dichotomy presented in Nichiren’s text between the Mappō (Latter Day of the Law) and the idealized society built on the True Dharma. The composition is divided conceptually; the upper left section utilizes stormy, dark pigments and chaotic energy to symbolize the "Latter Age of Degeneration," featuring wrathful spirits and natural disasters like fire and flood ravaging a land where the Dharma is ignored by a corrupted populace. Conversely, the right and lower sections represent the transformative power of correct belief. A luminous assembly of Bodhisattvas, including recognizable figures like Samantabhadra on the white elephant and a central figure resembling Avalokitesvara holding a sutra, descends on golden clouds. Their presence illuminates the peaceful, agrarian village below, symbolizing the interconnected happiness of the "Bodhisattvas of the Earth" and how practicing the True Dharma literally changes the world, turning the "evil land" into a harmonious, enlightened realm through belief and action.
Iconography & Character Identification
Item 1: Deities/Figures Featured:
Upper Left (Realm of Calamity): Various multi-armed wrathful deities (e.g., Asuras, Oni) embodying conflict and disasters; suffering figures neglecting proper ritual.
Central and Right (The Buddha's Assembly): A large assembly of Bodhisattvas descending on clouds. Prominent figures include:
A central Avalokitesvara (Kannon)-like figure seated, holding a sutra scroll and a lotus.
Samantabhadra (Fugen) Bodhisattva seated upon a six-tusked white elephant.
Monastic attendants and other Mahasattva Bodhisattvas of the Mahayana tradition.
Lower Level (The Transformed World): Laypersons and farmers engaging in cooperative labor and peaceful life.
Item 2: Text Translations:
Kanji Signature (Right Margin): 双子座 (Futago-za) — Translation: Gemini (Constellation)
Red Hanko Seal (Right Margin): ジェミニ (Jemini) — Translation: Gemini (Katakana transliteration)
Sutra/Scroll Text (Center): This stylized text represents the Lotus Sutra or Nichiren’s teachings (Dharma), though it is not transcribed for specific literal reading beyond its ritual function as "The True Teachings."
However, we now live in the Latter Age of Degeneration, when disputes and quarrels are rampant while the True Dharma is lost. There is nothing but evil lands where evil rulers, evil subjects and evil people reject the True Dharma, showing respect only to evil dharmas and evil teachers. Evil spirits take advantage of this, filling the lands with the so-called three calamities and seven disasters.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on the True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha (Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō). It can be hard for us to imagine how what we believe can change our society. We think we have to create a new political system, or put the right people in power, or acquire wealth before we can have peace. What would happen in a world where people believed their happiness was intertwined with that of others? What happens in a world where people believe their happiness has to come at the expense of others? Our beliefs are far more powerful than we realize. When we put our belief in the Buddha’s description of the world as it is, and see our place in it as Bodhisattvas who have chosen to be here to benefit others, the world changes before our eyes.
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