Category Archives: WONS

WONS

The Mirror of Buddhism

Some might wonder: “How do you know that your banishment and death sentence are results of your sins in your past lives?” To them I would answer that copper mirrors reflect only colors and shapes, and the mirror the First Emperor of Ch’in used to test his subjects showed only present sins, but the mirror of Buddhism shows the virtues or vices of one in the past. Therefore, it is said in the six-fascicled Nirvana Sūtra (Hatsunaion-gyō): “Good men! Since you have committed numerous evil deeds and accumulated bad karma, you have to suffer in compensation for them. (…) You may be slighted, may look ugly, may suffer from lack of clothing or from insufficient food, unable to make a fortune, born to a poor family or to a heretic family, or suffer from royal persecutions, and many other difficulties. The reason you receive relatively light punishment like these in this world is due to your merit of upholding the dharma. Otherwise you might have been punished much more severely.”

This matches me, Nichiren, as perfectly as two halves of a tally. It explains why I have been persecuted, and all of my numerous doubts have faded away. Let us tally this sūtra, phrase by phrase against me. As for “being slighted,” which is phrased in the Lotus Sūtra, “A Parable” chapter, as “being slighted, despised, hated with jealousy,” I, Nichiren, have been despised for more than twenty years. “Being ugly looking,” and “suffering from lack of food and clothing,” “unable to make a fortune, being born to a poor family,” “suffering from royal persecutions,” and so on are all about me. Who can doubt it?

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 106

WONS

Declare Yourself a Disciple of Nichiren

If something happens on your way to the Pure Land, you should declare yourself as a disciple of Nichiren. Even in this small country of Japan, one who claims to be a family member of the Lord of Sagami Province, Shogunal Regent Hōjō Tokimune, is sometimes respected with no questions asked. All the more so I am the foremost priest in the Jambudvīpa as far as the devotion to the Lotus Sūtra is concerned, though worldly the most outrageous priest in Japan. The name of such a man surely resounds in the Pure Lands throughout the universe. His name is known both to heaven and earth. When you declare yourself to be a disciple of Nichiren, even demons, no matter how evil they may be, will not say that they have never heard of such a man.

Myōshin-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady, the Nun Myōshin Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 103-104

d14b, WONS

Merits of Praising the Practicer of the Lotus Sūtra

It is preached in the “Teacher of the Dharma” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 4, that the merits of those who praise the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra are superior to the merits of those who endeavored to seek the Buddhist Way for as long as a kalpa (aeon). Grand Master Miao-lê interprets this scriptural statement saying, “He who torments the upholder of the Lotus Sūtra will have his head split into seven pieces. On the contrary he who sustains the upholder of the Lotus Sūtra will be rewarded with merit greater than the merit of the one giving offerings to the Buddha, who holds the ten epithets.”

Hōren-shō, Letter to Hōren, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 44-45

WONS

Perils of Disparaging the Lotus Sūtra and its Practicer

It is preached in the Lotus Sūtra, in the second fascicle (“A Parable” chapter): “Suppose there is a person who does not believe in this sūtra and instead disparages it or despises, hates, or bears a grudge against those who uphold this sūtra by reading, reciting, or copying it. Such a person will fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering upon death and will continue to wander about the hell for innumerable kalpa (aeons).” The seventh fascicle (“Never-Despising Bodhisattva” chapter) of the same sūtra states: “(Such a person) will suffer in the Hell of Incessant Suffering for as long as 1,000 kalpa (aeons).” The third fascicle (“The Parable of a Magic City”) states “for 3,000 dust-particle kalpa. ” And the sixth fascicle (“The Life Span of the Buddha”) says “for 500 (million) dust-particle kalpa. ” The Nirvana Sūtra declares: “In case one is crushed to death by a wild elephant, one will not fall into the three evil realms. However, when one is killed by an evil friend, one will inevitably fall into them. ”

Toki-dono Gosho, A Letter to Lord Toki, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 115-116

d27b, WONS

Showing Comparative Superiority of Various Sūtras

QUESTION: What is the purpose of discussing the comparative superiority among sūtras, which were all preached by one Buddha?

ANSWER: It is preached in the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 7 (Chapter 23, “The Previous Life of Medicine King Bodhisattva”), “He who upholds this sūtra is foremost among all living beings just as this sūtra is foremost among all the sūtras.” This chapter of the Lotus Sūtra also enumerates ten similes that expound the Lotus Sūtra as supreme among all sūtras which have already been preached, are now being preached, and will be preached (i-kon-tō). The eighth of the ten similes is the one just cited above. In short, the true intent of the Buddha in preaching this sūtra is not to show the comparative superiority of various sūtras but to preach that the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra are foremost among all the people. The practicers of expedient sūtras such as the Great Sun Buddha Sūtra are like various mountains, stars, rivers, and the people whereas the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra are like Mt. Sumeru, the sun and the moon, a great ocean, and the great king.

Ōta-dono-gari Gosho, A Letter to Lord Ōta, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 200-201.

WONS

A Great Vessel for Japan

I have made a vow. Even if someone says that he would make me the ruler of Japan on the condition that I give up the Lotus Sūtra and rely upon the Kammuryō-ju-kyō (Sūtra of Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life) for my salvation in the next life, or even if someone threatens me saying that he will execute my parents if I do not say “Namu Amida-butsu,” and no matter how many great difficulties fall upon me, I will not submit to them until a man of wisdom defeats me by reason. Other difficulties are like dust in the wind. I will never break my vow to become the pillar of Japan, to become the eyes of Japan, and become a great vessel for Japan.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 105-106

WONS

Rewarded with an Easy Delivery

Candlelight brightens the darkness. Even dirty water reflects the moonlight beautifully. In this world nothing is brighter than the sun and the moon; nothing is more noble than the lotus flowers. As the Lotus Sūtra is like the sun and the moon and the lotus flowers, it is called the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. I, Nichiren, am also like the sun and the moon and the lotus flowers. If you truly believe in the Lotus Sutra, you will be rewarded and protected by the Buddha so that you will have an easy delivery. It is said in the Lotus Sutra: “It is rare to meet this marvelous teaching,” and “If you believe in this, you will have an easy birth.”

Shijō Kingo Nyōbō Gosho, A Letter to the Wife of Shijō Kingo, Nyonin Gosho, Letters Addressed to Female Followers, Page 60

2buddhas, LS32, d30b, WONS

The Workings of the Ten Rāksasis

Nichiren saw the workings of the ten rāksasis in the events surrounding him, both great and small. He saw their roles as protecting Lotus devotees, occasionally testing their faith, aiding their practice, relieving their sufferings, and chastising those who obstruct their devotion. To a follower, the lay monk Myōmitsu, he wrote: “The ten rāksasis in particular have vowed to protect those who embrace the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra. Therefore they must think of you and your wife as a mother does her only child … and safeguard you day and night.” To two new parents, the samurai Shijō Kingo and his wife, Nichiren wrote that the ten rāksasis would watch over their infant daughter, so that “wherever she may frolic or play, no harm will come to her; she will ‘travel fearlessly, like a lion king’.” He saw the protection of the ten rāksasis in the kindness of an elderly lay monk on Sado Island who had come to his aid, helping him to survive in exile, and in the devotion of a woman who had made him a robe to shield him from the cold in the recesses of Mount Minobu. Their protection was further evident to him in the fact that he had been able to escape unscathed from an attack on his dwelling in Kamakura and survived other threats as well. To two brothers whose father had threatened to disinherit them on account of their faith in the Lotus Sūtra, he suggested: “Perhaps the ten rāksasis have possessed your parents and are tormenting you in order to test your resolve.” He also asserted that the ten rāksasis, along with other deities, had induced the Mongol ruler to attack Japan to chastise its people for abandoning the Lotus Sūtra.

Two Buddhas, p247
d20b, WONS

Escaping the Evil Realms Without Understanding the Lotus Sūtra

The Buddha preaches in “The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground” of the Lotus Sūtra that those who doubt and do not believe in this sūtra will fall into the evil realms of hell, hungry spirits, and beasts. This means that all who have the ability of understanding but do not have faith in the Three Treasures will fall into the evil realms. Nevertheless, scholars today wonder how those who only have belief in the Three Treasures but cannot understand what the sūtra means are able to avoid falling into the evil realms by just chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. These scholars are those who will go down to the most terrible hell, according to the sūtra cited above. Therefore, people can escape the evil realms without understanding the sūtra perfectly as long as they chant Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.

Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 37

WONS

Taking Opportunity of Illness to Become Devotee of Lotus Sūtra

Although your husband did not exhibit a strong faith in the Lotus Sūtra in this life, perhaps due to meritorious acts in his previous life, he is taking this opportunity of a long illness to become a devotee of the Lotus Sūtra and is trying to practice its teaching. I believe that the minor crimes committed by him may have already dissipated. Even the major evil of his slandering the True Dharma must have been eradicated due to his devotion to the Lotus Sūtra. Even if he should leave this world to go to the Pure Land of the Sacred Mountain right now, he would be as happy as if he were basking in the sunshine, and finally able to see clearly in all directions due to its light. He would rejoice over an early death.

Myōshin-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady, the Nun Myōshin Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 103