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New Year's Gosho
I have received a hundred mushimochi cakes and a
basket of fruit. New Year's Day marks the first day, the
first month, the beginning of the year and the start of
spring. A person who celebrates this day will gain virtue
and be loved by all, just as the moon becomes full gradually,
moving from west to east, and the sun shines more brightly
traveling from east to west.
First of all, as to the question of where exactly hell
and the Buddha exist, one sutra states that hell exists
underground and another sutra says that the Buddha is in
the west. However, closer examination reveals that both
exist in our five-foot body. The reason I think so is that
hell is in the heart of a man who inwardly despises his
father and disregards his mother, just like the lotus seed,
which contains both flower and fruit at the same time. In
the same way, the Buddha dwells inside our hearts. For example,
flint can produce fire and gems possess value in themselves.
We common mortals can see neither our own eyebrows, which
are so close, nor heaven in the distance. Likewise, we do
not see that the Buddha exists in our own hearts. You may
question how is it that the Buddha can reside within us
when our bodies, originating from our parents' sperm and
blood, are the source of the three poisons and the seat
of the carnal desires. But repeated consideration shows
the validity of my claim. The pure lotus flower blooms out
of the muddy pond, the fragrant sandalwood grows from the
soil, the graceful cherry blossoms come forth from trees,
the beautiful Yang Kuei-fei was born of a maidservant, and
the moon rises from behind the mountains to shed light on
them. Misfortune comes from one's mouth and ruins him, but
fortune comes from one's mind and makes him worthy of respect.
The sincerity of making offerings to the Lotus Sutra at
the beginning of the New Year is like flowers blooming from
trees, a lotus unfolding in a pond, sandalwood blossoming
on the Snow mountains, or the moon beginning to rise. Japan,
in becoming an enemy of the Lotus Sutra has now invited
misfortune from a thousand miles afar, whereas those who
believe in the Lotus Sutra will gather fortune from ten
thousand miles afar. The shadow is cast by the body, and
just as the shadow follows the body, misfortune will befall
the country whose people are hostile to the Lotus Sutra.
The believers in the Lotus Sutra, on the other hand are
like the sandalwood endowed with fragrance. I will write
you again.
Nichiren
The fifth day of the first month.
Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. 1, page
271.
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