This is another in a series of daily articles concerning Kishio Satomi's book, "Japanese Civilization; Its Significance and Realization; Nichirenism and the Japanese National Principles," which details the foundations of Chigaku Tanaka's interpretation of Nichiren Buddhism and Japan's role in the early 20th century.
In Kishio Satomi’s presentation of Nichirenism, and by extension his father Chigaku Tanaka’s view, several concepts distinguish it from more traditional Nichiren theology. As discussed earlier, one aspect is the idea that Nichiren was greatly disturbed by the exile of three former emperors following the Shokyu War. Another aspect is Satomi’s emphasis on Nichiren seeing himself as a reincarnation of Jogyo, Viśiṣṭacāritra in Sanskrit, one of four leaders of the Bodhisattvas in Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.
In the following quote summarizing the five areas of Nichiren’s criticism of Buddhism of his day, Nichiren being Honge Jogyo is an important demonstration of the source of Nichiren’s insight.
Nichirenism and the Japanese National Principles, p14-16The criticism of Nichirenism is what is called “Five Critical Principles.” Nichiren attained an enlightenment after a long research spread over twenty years, and systematized the Five Critical Principles as the result of his four careful perusals of all the Buddhist Scriptures. He agreed with Tendai’s critical doctrine, “Five Epochs and Eight Doctrines” to a certain extent, but he deepened and widened the method from his unique point of view (which is the subject of this work), and established the perfect criticism on the authority of his conviction of Honge Jogyo by his religious practice of the Hokekyo.
His criticism, when observing both the general effect and the minute details of Buddhism, has five aspects, explained as follows, according to the suggestion by Chiō Yamakawa of the Kokuchukai:
- Comparative study of Buddhist doctrines.
- Psychological research into the people’s capacity for Buddhism.
- Sociological study of the times.
- State-ethnical study of religious influence.
- Evolutionistic study of Buddhism.
He was actuated by the following phrase of the Hokekyo, and he established this critical doctrine at Izu when he was exiled there by the Hojos government. It says:
“He will, after Buddha’s Death, unravel (or know) the origin and orders, and he will preach the law as it is according to the real signification of the Buddhist Scriptures ” (Yamakawa’s Japanese translation, p. 567; cf. Kern, p. 369).
Nichiren writes in his article, “Analogue of Wise and Foolish,” “First of all, doctrine, capacity, the times, the country and retrocession and progress (or Backward and Forward) of religious distribution must be evident in order to propagate Buddhism and to benefit mankind ” (Shōgu Mondō-shō, Works, p. 223 ; cf. pp. 262-263, p. 1383).
How wonderful it is that so thorough a system for the study of religion has been established by him seven hundred years ago.
In my reading of Nichiren’s letters I have found just one place where he says outright that he is Honge Jogyo. That occurs in Sandai Hiho Honjo-ji, The Transmission of the Three Great Secret Dharmas, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2:
These three great secret dharmas are certainly what I, Nichiren, at the head of the group of bodhisattvas emerged from underground received from Lord Śākyamuni Buddha orally more than 2,000 years ago. Therefore, what I practice today are the “actual” three great secret dharmas revealed in “The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter, which are exactly the same as what was transmitted on Mt. Sacred Eagle without a shred of difference.
This letter says a number of things that are unique to this letter and thus has generated a good deal of controversy. I will discuss that letter in a post July 10 entitled Transmission of the Three Great Secret Laws
More common among Nichiren’s letters are statements like this from Honzon Mondō Shō, Questions and Answers on the Honzon, he writes:
Nobody has ever propagated this honzon in the world (Jambudvīpa) in more than 2,230 years since Śākyamuni Buddha expounded on it. Grand Masters T’ien-t’ai in China and Dengyō in Japan roughly knew about it, but did not at all propagate it. Today, in the Latter Age of Degeneration, it should be widespread. The Lotus Sūtra, states that Bodhisattvas Superior Practice (Viśiṣṭacaritra) and Limitless Practice (Anantacāritra) will appear in the world to spread it, but they have not yet done that. I, Nichiren, am not as great a man as those bodhisattvas, yet I have roughly understood it. So, as a forerunner, until those bodhisattvas appearing from underground emerge, I more or less propagated this sūtra and became the spear point of the passage that prophecies about the “time after My extinction” in the “Teacher of the Dharma” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra. It is my hope to transfer my merits to my parents, my teacher and all the people in the world.
That’s not to say it is somehow radical to consider Nichiren a manifestation of Honge Jogyo. Rev. Igarashi of the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church has often referred to this. During the 2021 Oeshiki Service memorializing the death of Nichiren, Rev. Igarashi said that the memorial service for Nichiren is different than the ones we hold for our ancestors. The difference, he explained, is that we know where Nichiren went after he died. He returned to his existence as Honge Jogyo.
Table of ContentsNext