Category Archives: WONS

800years, WONS

800 Years: Sheltering in Śākyamuni’s Robe

Those who were born in the Latter Age of Degeneration and try to spread the Lotus Sūtra will encounter three kinds of enemies who will exile and even kill them. However, Śākyamuni Buddha will shelter in His robe those who endure the difficulties in spreading the Dharma and protective deities will serve the practicers of the Dharma, lending shoulders of support or carrying them on their backs.

Shohō Jisso-shō, Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 78

800years, WONS

800 Years: Never Backing Down

From some time in the remote past till this day, I must have had several occasions to have come into contact with the Lotus Sūtra, and to have become a believer as well. As a consequence of this, I was probably able to withstand one or two instances of persecution; but since these tenacious obstacles have occurred in close succession, my faith may have been broken and weathered away. This time, regardless of what kind of difficulty I am to face, I proclaim that I am determined not to back down. Thus, I spoke up and have experienced this kind of persecution from time to time, just as is predicted by the sūtra.

Misawa-shō, A Letter to Lord Misawa of Suruga, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 241

800years, original, WONS

800 Years: Merits Spontaneously Accessed by Faith

The practices carried out by the Buddha throughout his countless lifetimes (causes) and the resulting virtues of his enlightenment (effects) are contained in the daimoku and spontaneously accessed by the practitioner in the act of chanting. We can see this idea developing in a personal letter that Nichiren wrote the year before the Kanjin honzon shō:

This jewel of [the character] myō contains the merit of the Tathāgata Śākyamuni’s Pāramitā of giving (danbaramitsu), when in the past he fed his body to a starving tigress or [gave his life] to ransom a dove; the merit of his Pāramitā of keeping precepts, when, as King Śrutasoma, he would not tell a lie; the merit gained as the ascetic Forbearance, when he entrusted his person to King Kali; the merit gained when he was Prince Donor, the ascetic Shōjari, [etc.] He placed the merit of all his six perfections (rokudo) within the character myō. Thus, even though we persons of the evil, last age have not cultivated a single good, he confers upon us the merit of perfectly fulfilling the countless practices of the six perfections. This is the meaning [of the passage], “Now this threefold world / is all my domain. / The beings in it / are all my children.” We ordinary worldlings, fettered [by defilements], at once have merit equal to that of Śākyamuni, master of teachings, for we receive the entirety of his merit. The sūtra states, “[At the start I made a vow / to make all living beings] / equal to me, without any difference.” This passage means that those who take faith in the Lotus Sūtra are equal to Śākyamuni Commoners [i.e., the heirs chosen to succeed the emperors Yao and Shun] immediately achieved royal status. Just as commoners became kings in their present body, so ordinary worldlings can immediately become Buddhas. This is what is meant by the heart of [the doctrine of] three thousand realms in one thought-moment.

Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism


800years, d20b, WONS

800 Years: Keep Yourself as a Practicer

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

800years, WONS

800 Years: Persevering in Maintaining Faith

Presently, my only concern is not to succumb to these great difficulties without abandoning the Lotus Sūtra. This has strengthened my faith. Through my experiences thus far, I have personally lived out the prophecies set forth in the sūtra. I am confident that I can weather these ordeals, which is why I have come to live on this mountain. Whether or not each of you lose your faith in the Lotus Sūtra, all of you have helped to save Nichiren’s life at one time or another. How can I think of you as strangers? As before, I, Nichiren, do not care what happens to me. No matter what happens, if I am able to retain my faith and become a Buddha, I have pledged, without exception, to guide each and everyone of you. That all of you are not as versed in Buddhism as is Nichiren, that you are secular, own property, have wives and children, as well as men in your employ must make it difficult for you to persevere in maintaining faith. So being the case, I have long said that you may pretend not to be believers of the Lotus Sūtra. As you all have come to Nichiren’s aid, I will not disown you under any circumstance. I shall never neglect you.

Misawa-shō, A Letter to Lord Misawa of Suruga, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 241

800years, original, WONS

800 Years: Transformation Through Faith

The immanence of the pure land in the present world had long been asserted by both Tendai and Shingon schools and was by no means unique to Nichiren’s teaching. Where Nichiren’s position differed was that, for him, the identity of the Sahā world and the Buddha’s land was not only to be realized subjectively in the moment of practice but manifested in actuality: as faith in the Lotus Sūtra spread from one person to another, there would occur an objective, visible transformation of the outer world. This vision is expressed in a letter written from Sado Island in 1273:

When all people throughout the land enter the one Buddha vehicle and the Wonderful Dharma alone flourishes, because the people all chant Namu- myōhō-renge-kyō as one, the wind will not thrash the branches nor the rain fall hard enough to break clods. The age will become like the reigns of [the Chinese sage kings] Yao and Shun. In the present life, inauspicious calamities will be banished, and the people will obtain the art of longevity. When the principle becomes manifest that both persons and dharmas “neither age nor die,” then each of you, behold! There can be no doubt of the sūtra’s promise of “peace and security in the present world.”

(Page 291-292)

Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism


800years, WONS

800 Years: If a Person Fails To Have Faith

Putting aside secular matters, regarding those who go against the Buddhist dharma, it is preached in the “Parable” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 2, “When such persons pass away, they will fall into the Avīci Hell.”

QUESTION: What kind of people are such persons?

ANSWER: The passage cited above from the “Parable” chapter is preceded by a statement saying, “Only I can save living beings. However, there are some who do not believe in what I teach them.” Then in the same chapter, following a clause, “If a person fails to have faith,” it is stated, “Such a person may frown to show displeasure” and “Upon seeing those who read, recite, copy, and uphold this sūtra, such a person will despise, hate, envy and harbor a grudge against them.” It is preached in the fifth fascicle (“Appearance of Bodhisattvas from the Earth” chapter), “Those who are skeptical of the Lotus Sūtra and do not hold faith in it will inevitably fall into the evil realms.” It is also stated in the eighth fascicle (“Encouragement of the Universal Sage Bodhisattva” chapter), “There will be such persons who despise and abuse the faithful (practicers of the Lotus Sūtra) saying, ‘You are a lunatics. It is useless to carry out such a practice. It will gain you nothing!’ ” The “such persons” mentioned in the “Parable” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra refer to these people who slander the Lotus Sūtra.

Soya Jirō Nyūdō-dono Gohō, Response to Lay Priest Lord Soya Jiro, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers I, Volume 6, Page 65

800years, WONS

800 Years: Believers in the Lotus Sūtra

It is a blessing that not only the Four Heavenly Kings of this world but also the Four Heavenly Kings, stars, the sun, the moon, Indra and the King of the Brahma Heaven of all the worlds protect us. Moreover, all of the Hinayāna sages called Two Vehicles (śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha), all bodhisattvas, Bodhisattva Maitreya in the Inner Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven, Bodhisattva Kisitigarbha of Mt. Kharādiya, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva of Mt. Potalaka and Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva of Mt. Ch’ing-liang, together with their respective groups of followers, would all protect us, believers in the Lotus Sūtra. It is the greatest blessing beyond expression that Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures and the Buddha from all over the universe themselves come to protect us day and night.

Ueno-dono Haha-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady the Nun, Mother of Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 180

800years, WONS

800 Years: The Source of Strong Faith

It is easier to begin putting faith in the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra than to keep on believing in it to the very end. It is as though water flows in the direction of the wind and the color of flowers fade with dew.

You have steadfastly maintained your true faith in the Lotus Sūtra till today, which is very rare. How do you think you have had such a strong true faith in the Lotus Sutra? It was solely due to the good karma you accumulated during your lives in the past, in addition to the divine protection of the Buddha.

Matsuno-dono Nyōbō Go-henji, A Response to the Wife of Lord Matsuno, Nyonin Gosho, Letters Addressed to Female Followers, Page 244

800years, WONS

800 Years: The Merit of the Fiftieth Person

The following are words of Grand Masters T’ien-t’ai and Miao-lê urging ordinary people in the Latter Age of Degeneration to have faith in the Lotus Sūtra. Grand Master T’ien-t’ai states in his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “A tree named kōken-ju has a thirty-three foot long bud in the ground. A bird named kalaviṅka twitters more beautifully than any other bird even when it stays in an eggshell.” This explains the merit of the fiftieth person who rejoices at hearing the Lotus Sūtra transmitted one after another by those who rejoice at hearing the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha graciously revealed the merit of the fiftieth person in order to preach that the merits of an ignorant person who rejoices at having an opportunity to hear the Lotus Sūtra for even a moment are hundred thousand billion times more valuable than the merit of a great saint who has upheld the expedient practices and teachings expounded in the pre-Lotus sūtras for aeons. This is why Grand Master T’ien-t’ai presented these sayings—to show the heart of this sūtra. The koken-ju tree grows thirty-three feet in height a day. The bird kalaviṅka, even when very young, twitters more beautifully than other birds, large or small. Thus T’ien-t’ai compared the long period necessary to practice the expedient teachings to the slow growth of various plants and trees, and the immediate attainment of Buddhahood through the practice of the Lotus Sūtra to the rapid growth of the koken-ju which grows thirty-three feet a day. He also compared great or minor saints who keep expedient teachings to various birds, and ordinary people who intently keep faith in the Lotus Sūtra to the cry of a kalaviṅka bird in the eggshell which is superior to that of other birds.

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 82-83