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Letter to Gijo-bo
I have carefully reviewed your question
about the Buddhist doctrines. The blessing of the Lotus
Sutra can only be understood between Buddhas. It is the
kind of enlightenment that even the wisdom of Shakyamuni
Buddha’s emanations throughout the ten directions can
barely fathom, if at all. This is why, as you well know,
the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai construed the character
myo [of Myoho-renge-kyo] to mean that which
is beyond ordinary comprehension.1
The Lotus Sutra proclaims a great diversity of practices,
but only T’ien-t’ai, Miao-lo and Dengyo were able
to understand the heart of the sutra. Among these men, the
Great Teacher Dengyo was the reincarnation of T’ien-t’ai
[and therefore well versed in the T’ien-t’ai doctrine].
Nevertheless, he sent envoys to T’ang China on many
occasions in an effort to resolve the common doubts of others
concerning the sutra. The essence of the sutra is the mutual
possession of the Ten Worlds, one hundred worlds and one
thousand factors, and the three thousand realms in a single
moment of life. This is a doctrine of great importance which
was revealed in the work entitled Maka shikan.
The teaching of the Juryo chapter
bears special significance for me, Nichiren. T’ien-t’ai
and Dengyo understood it in a general way but did not reveal
it in words, and the same was true of Nagarjuna and Vasubandhu.
The Jigage section of the chapter states, ‘...single-mindedly
desiring to see the Buddha, not hesitating even if it costs
them their lives...’ I, Nichiren, have called forth
Buddhahood from within my life by living this sentence.
This means that I myself embodied the Three Great Secret
Laws, or the reality of the three thousand realms in a single
moment of life, implied in the Juryo chapter. But
let us keep this to ourselves!
Dengyo, the Great Teacher of Mount Hiei,
journeyed to China to receive instruction in the profound
meaning of this sentence from the sutra. ‘Single’
of ‘single-mindedly’ means the one pure way,2
and ‘mind’ indicates all phenomena and existences.
The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai explained the Chinese
character for ‘mind’ by saying that it consists
of four brush strokes representing the moon and three stars
and implies that the mind that resides in the effect [of
Buddhahood] is pure and clean.3
My interpretation of the passage is that ‘single’
stands for myo (mystic), ‘mind’ for ho
(law), ‘desiring’ for ren (lotus), ‘see’
for ge (flower), and ‘Buddha’ for kyo
(sutra). In propagating these five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo,
one should ‘not hesitate even if it costs them their
lives.’
‘Single-mindedly desiring to see the
Buddha’ also means to see the Buddha in one’s
own mind, to concentrate one’s mind on seeing the Buddha,
and that to see one’s own mind is to see the Buddha.
I have attained the fruit of Buddhahood, the eternally inherent
three bodies,4 [by living
this sentence]. In achieving this I am sure I surpass T’ien-t’ai
and Dengyo, Nagarjuna and Mahakashyapa. The Buddha admonishes
that one should by all means become the master of one’s
mind rather than let one’s mind master oneself.5
This is why I have emphatically urged you not to hesitate
to give up your body and your life for the sake of the Lotus
Sutra. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Nichiren
The twenty-eighth day of the fifth month
in the tenth year of Bun’ei (1273)
Footnotes:
- Introduction to the Hokke Gengi.
- One pure way: The true entity permeating all phenomena.
- Source unknown.
- Three enlightened properties of life: Here means that
Nichiren Daishonin is the original Buddha eternally endowed
with the three properties-the truth ofa Buddha's life
(hosshin), the wisdom to perceive that truth (hoshin)
and the merciful actions of a Buddha to save the people
(ojin). "The three enlightened properties"
of the original Buddha are defined as musa (literally
"not created"), a Buddhist term meaning "natural"
or "eternally inherent."
- Nirvana Sutra, chap. 2.
Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin; Vol 2.
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