Reply to Jibu-bo
I have received one to of polished rice, some myoga
buds and one package of ginger.
People who present the Buddha with the cherry
blossoms of spring, the crimson leaves of autumn,
the clear water of summer and the snow of winter
are all able to attain Buddhahood. How then could
one who makes the Lotus Sutra an offering of rice,
which sustains the life of the emperor and to the
common people is more valuable than jewels,
possibly fail to become a Buddha?
In society what people value are the words of the
ruler and the words of their parents. One who turns
one’s back on the instructions of one’s parents is
guilty of a lack of filial piety and will be abandoned
by heaven. One who fails to do the bidding of the
ruler of the country is a person who disobeys royal
edicts and will have his life taken away. Cherishing
the desire for enlightenment from inconceivably
distant kalpas in the past, we have done such things
as abandoning our countries, our wives and
children, or our own lives, for the sake of attaining
enlightenment in future existences. When we thus
draw near to achieving Buddhahood, and when we
encounter the scripture entitled Myoho-renge-kyo,
which is the single vehicle, the Devil of the Sixth
Heaven, ruler of the threefold world, reasons: "If this
person should become a Buddha, I will suffer loss
on two counts. First of all, if he frees himself from
the threefold world, he will escape my control.
Second, if he becomes a Buddha, his parents and
siblings will also depart from the saha world. How
can I stop this from happening?"
He produces various emanations and, with these,
takes possession of our parents, enters the body of
the ruler of our country or becomes a respected
priest, exhorting us to commit evil acts, making
threats or resorting to flattery. Or else he becomes a
high-ranking priest, a great priest, a wise man or
someone who upholds the precepts and, with the
Kegon or Agon sutras or Nembutsu or Shingon
teachings in hand, attempts to turn our devotion
from the Lotus Sutra and toward these other
teachings, using deception to prevent us from
becoming Buddhas.
The fifth volume of the Lotus Sutra states that "when
the Latter Day of the Law arrives, a great demon will
first enter the bodies of the sovereign, ministers and
common people, and curse or strike and wound the
votary of the Lotus Sutra. If this fails, he will appear
as an immeasurable multitude of priests who,
employing all the other sutras, attempt to win the
votary over. If this does not succeed, he will become
a great priest who upholds the two hundred and fifty
precepts and the three thousand rules of conduct,
and wheedle the sovereign and deceive his wife so
that the votary is exiled or an attempt is made on his
life."
We may also refer to the detailed descriptions in the
Fukyo chapter of the seventh volume, the Hosshi
chapter of the fourth volume and the Hiyu chapter of
the second volume, as well as in the forty-volume
Nirvana Sutra and in the Shugo Sutra, which differ
not in the least from the conditions of the present
time. In addition, the events in the area of Kashima
in Suruga Province, especially as they affected you
personally, must have brought these things to mind.
In a way that bears no comparison with other
matters, disobeying the prohibitions that one’s
parents or the sovereign may put forward regarding
the Lotus Sutra will in fact constitute filial piety
toward one’s parents and accord with the prayers of
the sovereign [for peace].
Furthermore, Japan is an unusual country, a country
that respects the gods and honors the Buddhas.
However, because everyone, from the sovereign on
down to the common people, hates Nichiren for
propagating the Lotus Sutra, though they may
revere all the gods and make offerings to all the
Buddhas, these meritorious acts only turn into great
evil. This is like moxibustion causing the outbreak of
virulent boils, or medicine turning into poison. The
prayers they offer to all the Buddhas and gods turn
into faults, and the country itself is about to become
the possession of foreign countries. Moreover, for
some time I have been telling people that the time
will come when those of high standing will all suffer
agonies that are a hundred, a thousand, ten
thousand, a hundred thousand times worse than
those suffered by the Heike clan at the time of their
destruction.4
By considering the magnitude of the punishment
suffered by those who harbor enmity toward the
Lotus Sutra, we can understand the magnitude of
the benefits obtained by devoting oneself to it. For
example, if a man murders his parents, then no
matter how many causes for great good he may
create, his efforts will not be acceptable to heaven.
But if one kills an enemy of the Lotus Sutra, even if
that enemy should be one’s father or mother, this
great crime will turn into a cause for great good.
Even if a person should be an archenemy of all the
Buddhas of the three existences and the ten
directions, if he believes in a single phrase of the
Lotus Sutra, the Buddhas will not abandon him.
With this in mind, please carefully consider the
nature of this matter. Because the messenger is in a
hurry, I cannot write in detail, but I will write to you
again.
With my deep respect,
Nichiren
The twenty-second day of the eighth month
Reply to Jibu-bo
