Major Writings II - Nichiren Daishounin

Letter to the Priests of Seicho-ji
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A Comparison of the Lotus Sutra and Other Sutras
A Ship to Cross the Sea of Suffering
Earthly Desires Are Enlightenment
Clear Sake Gosho
Letter to Niike
Letter to Domyo Zemmon
Letter to Akimoto
Letter from Sado
Reply to Nichigon-ama
Roots of Good Fortune
Reply to Jibu-bo
No Safety in the Threefold World - Nichiren Daishounin
Letter to Horen - Nichiren Daishounin
King Rinda - Nichiren Daishounin
Jozo and Jogen - Nichiren Daishounin
Bodhisattva Hachiman - Nichiren Daishounin
On Prayer - Nichiren Daishounin
The Opening of the Eyes Part I
The Opening of the Eyes Part II
Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man
Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man Part II
Establishment of the Legitimate Teaching for the Protection of the Country
How Those Initially Aspiring to the Way Can Attain Buddhahood Through the Lotus Sutra
The Learned Doctor Shan-wu-wei
The Entity of the Mystic Law
The Pure and Far-reaching Voice
Reply to Takahashi Nyudo
The Teaching, Capacity, Time, and Country
The Doctrine of Attaining Buddhahood in One's Present Form
Encouragement to a Sick Person
The Essence of the Yakuo Chapter
The Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra
The Supreme Leader of the World
The Treasure of a Filial Child
The Supremacy of the Law
Reply to Nii-ama
The Workings of Bonten and Taishaku
The Story of Ohashi no Taro
The Teaching in Accordance with the Buddha's Own Mind
The Treatment of Illness and the Points of Difference between Mahayana and Hinayana and Provisional
Repaying Debts of Gratitude
On Practicing the Buddha's Teachings
On the Urabon
Letter to the Priests of Seicho-ji
Letter to Nichimyo Shonin
Letter to Shomitsu-bo
Questions and Answers on Embracing the Lotus Sutra
Reply to Sairen-bo
Rationale for Submitting the Rissho Ankoku Ron
Persecution by Sword and Staff
Rebuking Slander of the Law and Eradicating Sins
Recitation of the Hoben and Juryo Chapters
Reply to Lord Hakiri Saburo
Reply to Yasaburo
Letter to Ichinosawa Nyudo
Letter to Myomitsu Shonin
Reply to Hoshina Goro Taro
Wu-lung and I-lung
White Horses and White Swans
The Sutra of True Requital
The Kalpa of Decrease
The Farther the Source, the Longer the Stream
The Third Doctrine
The One-eyed Turtle and the Floating Sandalwood Log
Letter to Nakaoki Nyudo
General Stone Tiger
The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life
Lessening the Karmic Retribution
Letter to the Brothers
Hell is the Land of Tranquil Delight
On Prolonging Life
On the Buddha's Behavior
On the Buddha's Prophecy
On the Treasure Tower
Propagation by the Wise
The Embankments of Faith
The Dragon Gate
Strategy of the Lotus Sutra
Reply to Kyo-o
The Person and the Law
The One Essential Phrase
The Gift of Rice
The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon
Letter of Petition from Yorimoto
Introduction and Preface to the Ongi Kuden: Namu Myoho Renge Kyo [Devotion to the Lotus Sutra]
Muryogi Sutra [Sutra of Innumerable Meanings]
Chapter 3: Simile and Parable [Hiyu]
Chapter 4: Faith and Understanding [Shinge]
Chapter 6: Prediction [Juki]
Chapter 7: Phantom City [Kejoyu]
Chapter 8: Prophecy of Enlightenment for Five Hundred Disciples [Gohyaku Deshi Juki]

Letter to the Priests of Seicho-ji
 
Let us congratulate each other on the coming of the New Year. Since you paid me no visit last year,  I am worried whether something unfortunate may have occurred. If you have a chance to call on  me, would you borrow for me the Jujushin ron, Hizo hoyaku, Nikyo ron and other commentaries  of the Shingon sect from the priest Ise-ko! I need them in order to refute the Shingon priests who  have for some time been clamoring against me. Bring with you also volumes one and two of the  Maka shikan. I would also appreciate the Toshun and the Fusho ki if they are available. Borrow  the Shuyo shu which is owned by Kanchi-bo, the disciple of Enchi-bo. Moreover, I have heard  people say that he is in possession of other relevant writings. Please borrow them as well, and tell  him that I will return them as soon as possible. This year the question of which Buddhist teachings  are right and which are wrong will definitely be resolved.
 

Tell Joken-bo, Gijo-bo and other priests on my behalf: "Nichiren has often been on the verge of  being killed. Twice he was exiled and once almost beheaded. This is not because of any worldly  wrongs on his part. [As a youth,] he received great wisdom from the living Bodhisattva Kokuzo. He  had been praying to the bodhisattva to become the wisest person in Japan. The bodhisattva must  have taken pity on him, for he presented him with a great jewel as brilliant as the morning star,  which Nichiren tucked away in his right sleeve. Thereafter, on perusing the entire body of sutras, he  was able to discern in essence the relative worth of the eight sects as well as of all the  scriptures."
 

The Shingon sect is especially blameworthy, because it attempts to destroy the Lotus Sutra. It is  essential to refute Shingon, so in preparation I first attacked the errors of the Zen and Nembutsu  sects. I have good reason for my accusation. I will reserve discussion of the rights or wrongs of  Buddhist schools in India and China for some other time, but for Japan, all the people have  discarded the correct teaching of the Lotus Sutra and are therefore without exception destined to  fall into the evil paths. This is because, at each and every temple, the Shingon sect invariably exists  side by side with the Hokke [Lotus] sect just as a shadow follows the body. Thus, to the correct  practice of the Lotus Sutra is added the Shingon practice of the eighteen paths, and to its  performance of penitence is joined that based on the Amida Sutra. And in conferring titles upon  priests of the Tendai sect, the Shingon procedure predominates, while that of the Lotus Sutra is  relegated to a secondary position.
 

In reality, the sutras of Shingon belong to the provisional teachings previous to the Lotus Sutra and  are inferior even to the Kegon or the Hannya sutras. Yet Jikaku and Kobo were confused on this  point and held that the Shingon sutras were equal or even superior to the Lotus Sutra. The  ceremony for "opening the eyes" of a newly-made image of the Buddha is therefore conducted  with the mudra of the Buddha-eye Goddess and the mantra of Dainichi Buddha. As a result, all  the wooden and painted images of the Buddha in Japan have been rendered soulless and sightless  and, in consequence, have been possessed by the heavenly devil, bringing ruin upon their own  worshipers. This is why the imperial court [in Kyoto] is about to perish. Now the evil teaching of  Shingon has made its appearance in Kamakura and threatens to destroy all of Japan.
 

The Zen and Pure Land sects also hold extremely perverted views. I knew that if I declared this, it  would certainly cost me my life. Yet I was determined to requite the favor of Bodhisattva Kokuzo.  With this in mind, on the twenty-eighth day of the fourth month in the fifth year of Kencho (1253), I  pointed out the errors of the various sects for the first time to a small audience including Joen-bo  on the southern side of the image hall in Dozen-bo’s quarters in Seicho-ji temple, located in Tojo  Village in Awa Province. For more than twenty years since then, I have persisted in my declaration  without retreating a step. For this reason, I was at times driven from my dwelling and at other times  exiled. In former days Bodhisattva Fukyo was beaten with staves; now Nichiren must face the  sword.
 

All the people in Japan, both wise and foolish, from the sovereign down to the common people, say  that the priest Nichiren is no match for the scholars, teachers, great masters and eminent priests  of old. I waited for the right time to dispel their distrust of me. The time finally came when great  earthquakes occurred in the Shoka era, followed by the appearance of a huge comet in the Bun’ei  era. Observing these, I made this prediction: ‘Our country will suffer two terrible disasters, internal  strife and foreign invasion. The former will take place in Kamakura, in the form of internecine  strife among the descendants of the Gon no Tayu. The latter may come from any direction, but  that from the west would be the most violent. This latter will occur solely because of the fact that  all the Buddhist sects in Japan are erroneous, and Bonten and Taishaku will therefore command  other countries to attack us. So long as the country refuses to heed me, it will certainly be defeated,  no matter whether it has a hundred, a thousand or even ten thousand generals as brave as  Masakado, Sumitomo, Sadato, Toshihito, or Tamura. If these words of mine prove  false, then the people are free to believe in the distorted views of the Shingon, Nembutsu and other  sects." This is the prediction that I made known far and wide.
 

I especially warn the priests on Mount Kiyosumi. If they treat me with less respect than they show  their own parents or the three treasures, they will become wretched beggars in this life and will fall  into the hell of incessant suffering in the next. I will explain why. The villainous Tojo Saemon  Kagenobu once hunted the deer and other animals kept by Seicho-ji and tried to force the priests  in the various lodging temples to become Nembutsu believers. At that time I pitted myself against  Tojo and supported the lord of the manor. I composed a fervent oath which read, ‘If the two  temples, Kiyosumi and Futama, should come into Tojo’s possession, I will discard the Lotus Sutra!’  Then I tied it to the hand of the object of worship, to which I prayed continuously. Within a year,  both temples were freed from Tojo’s grasp. Certainly Bodhisattva Kokuzo will never forget this, so  how can those priests who make light of me avoid being forsaken by the heavenly gods? Hearing  me say this, the more foolish of you may think that I am invoking a curse upon you. That is not so,  however. I am warning you simply because it would be a pity if you should fall into the hell of  incessant suffering after your death.
 

Let me say a few words about Ama Gozen, the wife of the lord of the manor. Being a woman,  and a foolish one at that, she must have been turned against my teaching by threats from others. I  pity her, for, having forgotten her debt of gratitude, she will fall into the evil paths in her next  existence. Despite that, however, she extended great favor to my parents, so I am praying that I  may somehow be able to save her from that fate.
 

The Lotus Sutra is nothing other than a scripture that reveals that Shakyamuni became a Buddha in  the distant past of gohyaku-jintengo. It also predicts that Shariputra and the other disciples will  become Buddhas in the future. Those who do not believe the sutra will fall into the hell of incessant  suffering. Not only did Shakyamuni himself declare all this, but Taho Buddha also testified to its  truth and the Buddhas from the ten directions extended their tongues by way of verification.  Furthermore, the Lotus Sutra states that the votary of this sutra will receive the protection of the  bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust particles of a thousand worlds who emerged from the earth,  the bodhisattvas Monju and Kannon, Bonten, Taishaku, the gods of the sun and moon, the Four  Heavenly Kings and the ten demon daughters. Therefore, there is no other way to attain  Buddhahood than by practicing the Lotus Sutra, for it is the only scripture which reveals things past  and future.
 
 
I have never seen Tsukushi, nor do I know anything about the barbarians [of the west]. Yet, the  prediction I made concerning the Mongols in light of the entire body of the sutras has already come  true. Hence, when I say that you will all fall into the hell of incessant suffering because of your  ingratitude, how can my words prove false! You may be safe for the time being, but wait and see  what happens later. All of Japan will be reduced to the same miserable state in which the islands of  Iki and Tsushima now find themselves. When vast numbers of Mongol hordes close in on the  province of Awa, those of you priests who cling to prejudiced views will cringe in terror and finally  fall into the hell of incessant suffering, saying, ‘Now I know that the priest Nichiren was right.’ What  a pity! What a pity indeed!
 
Nichiren
 
The eleventh day of the first month
To the priests of Seicho-ji in the province of Awa
This letter is to be read aloud by the priests Sado and Suke Ajari before the statue of Bodhisattva  Kokuzo for all the priests of Seicho-ji to hear.

  

Home
The True Entity of Life
The One Essential Phrase
The Essence of the Juryo Chapter
The True Object of Worship
The Selection of the Time
The Problem to Be Pondered Night and Day
Reply to the Mother of Lord Ueno
The Bodies and Minds of Ordinary Beings
Teaching, Practice, and Proof
On Omens
On Persecutions Befalling the Buddha
The Votary of the Lotus Sutra Will Meet Persecution
Thus I Heard
The Izu Exile
The Origin of the Urabon
The Royal Palace
The Meaning of Faith
The Third Day of the New Year
Reply to the Followers
The Causal Law of Life
The Swords of Good and Evil
The Teaching for the Latter Day
The Unmatched Fortune of the Law
Easy Delivery of a Fortune Child
Letter to Konichi-bo
Letter to Misawa
An Outline of the Zokurui and Other Chapters
Consecrating an Image of Shakyamuni Buddha Made by Shijo Kingo
Curing Karmic Disease
Admonitions Against Slander
Bestowal of the Mandala of the Mystic Law
The Receipt of New Fiefs
The Unity of Husband and Wife
Letter to Ko-no-ama Gozen
Winter Always Turns to Spring
On Filial and Unfilial Conduct
A Father Takes Faith
A Warning against Begrudging One's Fief
The Mongol Envoys
Reply to Tokimitsu
Reply to Myoho Bikuni Gozen
Beneficial Medicine for All Ills
A Sage Perceives the Three Existences of Life
The Proof of the Lotus Sutra
Letter to Jakunichi-bo
Aspiration for the Buddha Land
Reply to Lord Shijo Kingo
The Universal Salty Taste
Good Fortune in This Life
The Wealthy Man Sudatta
Letter to Gijo-bo
New Year's Gosho
Persecution at Tatsunokuchi
Easy Delivery of a Fortune Child
Reply to Lord Matsuno's Wife
The Birth of Tsukimaro
Banishment to Sado
Great Evil and Great Good
Happiness In This World
Letter from Echi
Letter to Endo Saemon-no-jo
Letter to Priest Nichiro in Prison
On Flowers and Seeds
On Itai Doshin
Postscript to the Rissho Ankoku Ron
Reply to a Believer
Reply to Ko Nyudo
Reply to Lady Onichi-nyo
Reply to Lord Matsuno
Rissho Ankoku Ron
The Difficulty of Sustaining Faith
The Offering of a Summer Robe
The Property of Rice
The Wonderful Means of Surmounting Obstacles
Unseen Virtue and Visible Reward
Upholding Faith in the Gohonzon
The Drum at the Gate of Thunder

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