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An Outline of the Zokurui and Other
Chapters
I have received your offering of seven kan of coins.
The essence of the Zokurui (twenty-second) chapter
of the Lotus Sutra is as follows. The Buddha, [rising from
his seat in the Treasure Tower,] stood in open space and,
in order to make a transfer of the Lotus Sutra, stroked
no fewer than three times the heads of Bodhisattva Jogyo
and his followers, Monju and his followers, Daibonten, Taishaku,
the gods of the sun and moon, the Four Heavenly Kings, the
dragon kings, the ten demon daughters and others. They had
clustered before the Buddha as thick as dew, crowding the
four hundred billion nayuta worlds like the grasses of Musashino
or the trees covering Mount Fuji. They knelt close to one
another, bending their bodies so that their heads touched
the ground and sweating with palms joined together. [Shakyamuni
Buddha stroked their heads] just as a mother strokes the
hair of her only child. Then, Jogyo, the gods of the sun
and moon, and the others received the Buddha's auspicious
command and pledged to propagate the Lotus Sutra in the
latter age.
As for the Yakuo (twenty-third) chapter: in the
past a bodhisattva called Kiken learned the Lotus Sutra
from the Buddha Pure Bright Excellence of Sun and Moon.
So deeply moved was he by this favor received from his teacher
and by the loftiness of the sutra that he exhausted all
his precious treasures in offerings. Still unsatisfied,
he anointed himself with oil and burned his body as an offering
to the Buddha for a period of twelve hundred years, just
as today we burn oil by inserting a wick and lighting it.
Then, in his next lifetime he made torches of his arms and
burned them for seventy-two thousand years as an offering
to the Lotus Sutra. So if a woman makes offerings to the
Lotus Sutra now in the fifth five-hundred-year period, this
bodhisattva's benefits will all be bequeathed to her without
exception, just as a wealthy man transfers his entire fortune
to his only son.
The Myoon (twenty-fourth) chapter tells of a bodhisattva
called Myoon who dwells in the land of the Buddha Wisdom
King of the Pure Flower Constellation in the east. In the
past, in the age of the Buddha King Cloud Thunder-Sound,
he was Lady Jotoku, the wife of King Myoshogon. At that
time, Lady Jotoku made offerings to the Lotus Sutra and
was reborn as Bodhisattva Myoon. When the Tathagata Shakyamuni
expounded the Lotus Sutra in the saha world, this
bodhisattva came to attend the ceremony and pledged to protect
those women who would embrace the Lotus Sutra in the latter
age.
The Kannon (twenty-fifth) chapter is also called
the Fumon chapter. The first part describes the merit
of those who put faith in Bodhisattva Kanzeon [or Kannon]
- so the title Kannon chapter. The latter part expounds
the merit of those who embrace the Lotus Sutra, [the teaching
of universal enlightenment,] which Bodhisattva Kannon upholds
- so the title Fumon [universal gate] chapter.
The Dharani (twenty-sixth) chapter describes how
the two saints, the two heavenly gods, and the ten demon
daughters will protect the votary of the Lotus Sutra. The
two saints are Yakuo and Yuze, and the two heavenly gods
are Bishamon and Jikoku. The ten demon daughters are the
ten major female demons, the mothers of all demons of the
four continents. Moreover, these ten demon daughters have
a mother, who is called Kishimojin.
It is the nature of demons to feed on human beings. Human
beings are formed of thirty-six elements: excrement, urine,
saliva, flesh, blood, skin, bone, the five major internal
organs, the six internal organs, the hair of the head, the
hair of the body, breath, life, and so forth. Demons of
inferior capacity feed upon excrement and the like. Demons
of intermediate capacity eat bones and similar parts, while
demons of superior capacity live on human vitality. As demons
of superior capacity, the ten demon daughters subsist on
human vitality. They are the powerful demons who bring about
epidemics.
There are two kinds of demons, good and evil. Good demons
feed upon enemies of the Lotus Sutra, while evil demons
feed upon the sutra's votaries. How should we interpret
the great epidemics that have spread throughout Japan both
last year and this year? From one view point, they are the
work of good demons who are devouring enemies of the Lotus
Sutra with the approval of Bonten, Taishaku, the gods of
the sun and moon, and the Four Heavenly Kings. Yet from
another view, they are the work of evil demons who are feeding
upon the practitioners of the Lotus Sutra at the urging
of the Devil of the Sixth Heaven. Good demons devouring
enemies of the Lotus Sutra are like government soldiers
punishing enemies of the ruler. But evil demons eating votaries
of the Lotus Sutra are like robbers and night thieves murdering
government soldiers.
For example, when Buddhism was brought to Japan, the chief
minister Mononobe no Moriya and others who opposed it were
struck down by epidemics, but Soga no Umako and others [who
espoused Buddhism] also fell ill. Three successive emperors,
Kimmei, Bidatsu and Yomei, believed in Buddhism and Shakyamuni
Buddha in their hearts but outwardly worshiped the Sun Goddess
and the Kumano shrines, abiding by the traditional rites
of the nation. Because their faith in the Buddha and his
teachings was weak, while their faith in the gods was strong,
these three rulers were pulled by the stronger influence
and died in smallpox epidemics.
You should ponder in light of these examples the two kinds
of demons mentioned above, as well as the reasons why epidemics
spread among the people of the world today and why some
among my followers also fall ill and perish. It follows
on the one hand that those who commit their lives for the
sake of faith will not fall ill, or that even if they should
fall ill, they will recover. On the other hand, if they
encounter great evil demons, they may be deprived of their
lives. Their case will then be like that of Hatakeyama Shigetada,
who was finally destroyed by the sheer number of his enemies,
though he was the most powerful general in Japan.
Evil demons have possessed all the Shingon teachers in
Japan, and because the Zen and Nembutsu priests all oppose
Nichiren, these demons are rampant throughout the country.
What is more, the followers of Bonten, Taishaku, the gods
of the sun and moon, and the ten demon daughters have also
swarmed into Japan, and both sides are battling fiercely
to defeat one another.
As the ten demon daughters pledged to protect the votaries
of the Lotus Sutra in general, one would think they should
protect all those who embrace the sutra [but this is not
always so]. Even among people who embrace the Lotus Sutra,
some are Shingon teachers who read and recite it while asserting
the superiority of the Dainichi Sutra. Such people
are actually slandering the Lotus Sutra. And the same principle
applies as well to [all those who practice it while believing
in the superiority of] any other sect.
Even among those who embrace the Lotus Sutra according
to its words, there are some who resent the votary of the
Lotus Sutra either because of their greed, anger and stupidity,
or because of worldly matters, or because of his various
actions. Although such people believe in the Lotus Sutra,
they will not obtain the benefit of faith but will instead
incur retribution. To explain, if a son disobeys his father
and mother, he will be acting in an unfilial manner, except
in a case where they are plotting a rebellion. Though a
father may steal his own son's beloved wife, or a mother
may steal her own daughter's beloved husband, if the son
or daughter should deviate even in the slightest from the
path of filial piety, they will create causes that will
lead them to be abandoned by Heaven in this life and to
fall into the Avichi Hell in the next. Graver still is the
act of going against a worthy ruler, who is superior to
a father or mother. And even graver is that of going against
a secular teacher, who is a hundred thousand billion times
superior to one's parents or sovereign. How grave a matter
must it be, then, to go against a Buddhist teacher who has
forsaken the secular world; and even more so, the teacher
of the Lotus Sutra!
It is said that the Yellow River becomes clear once in
a thousand years, and that a sage likewise appears in the
world once in a thousand years. A Buddha makes his advent
in the world once in countless kalpas. Yet even if one should
meet a Buddha, it is far more difficult to encounter the
Lotus Sutra. And even if one should encounter the Lotus
Sutra, it is rarer still for a common mortal of the latter
age to meet the votary of the Lotus Sutra. The reason is
that the votary of the Lotus Sutra who expounds it in the
latter age surpasses [the Buddhas and bodhisattvas appearing
in] the Kegon, Agon, Hodo and Hannya sutras
and the twelve hundred and more honored ones of the Dainichi
Sutra - who did not expound the Lotus Sutra. The Great Teacher
Miao-lo states in his commentary, "Those who make offerings
[to the votary of the Lotus Sutra] will have good fortune
surpassing that of the ten honorable titles, while those
who trouble [him] will have their heads split into seven
pieces."
The epidemics that the Japanese nation has suffered since
last year, as well as those of the past Shoka era, are totally
without precedent in the reigns of the more than ninety
emperors who have ruled since the beginning of the imperial
era. These calamities appear to stem from the fact that
the people hate the presence of a sage in this country.
This is exactly what is meant when it is said that a dog
that barks at a lion will have its intestines ripped open,
and that an asura who tries to swallow the sun and
the moon will have his head broken. Two thirds of all the
people in Japan have already fallen ill in the epidemics
and half of these have perished. The remaining third may
not be afflicted in body, but they are afflicted in mind.
Visibly or invisibly, their heads have surely been broken.
There are four kinds of punishment - general and individual,
inconspicuous and conspicuous. If the people nurture hatred
for a sage, general punishment will be visited upon the
entire country, extending to the four continents, the six
heavens of the world of desire and the four meditation heavens.
When enmity is directed toward a worthy man, only those
who harbor it will suffer punishment. The epidemics now
spreading in Japan are general punishment. Surely the people
must have opposed a sage living in this country. Because
a mountain contains a jewel, its plants and trees do not
wither. Because a country has a sage, that country is protected
from ruin. Ignorant people do not realize that plants and
trees on a mountain do not wither because of the presence
of a jewel. Nor do they realize that a country falls because
of enmity toward a sage.
Though the sun and the moon shine, their light will not
benefit the blind. Of what use is the sound of voices to
the deaf? The people in Japan are all as though blind or
deaf. How immense would be the benefit if one could open
all these eyes and ears, could cause all the eyes to see
and the ears to hear! Who could possibly fathom this benefit?
And I may add that although parents may give birth to a
child who is endowed with both sight and hearing, if there
is no teacher to instruct him, then his eyes and ears will
be no better than those of an animal.
Among the ten directions, all the people in Japan aspire
to the west. Among all Buddhas, they revere Amida Buddha;
and among all practices, they invoke Amida's name. Some
make these three concerns their basis yet engage in other
practices, while others devote themselves to the Nembutsu
alone. In the more than twenty years since the fifth year
of the Kencho era (1253) up until the present, I have first
clarified the Buddha's lifetime teachings in terms of their
relative merit, sequence of preaching, and profundity, and
upon that basis, I have asserted the superiority of the
daimoku of the Lotus Sutra over the invocation of the name
of Amida Buddha. Yet no one, from the ruler on down to the
common people, has heeded my words. They have questioned
their teachers about me, appealed to their lords, talked
with their companions, and spoken to their wives, children
and retainers, so that rumors concerning me have spread
to every province, district, village and hamlet, as well
as to its temples and shrines. As a result, everyone has
come to know my name; and they all say that, if one compares
the Lotus Sutra to the Nembutsu, the Nembutsu is superior
and the Lotus Sutra is no match for it, and that other priests
are worthy of respect while I, Nichiren, am contemptible.
So, the ruler regards me with hostility, the people have
come to hate me, and all Japan has become a great foe of
both the Lotus Sutra and its votary. But if I say this,
not only the people of Japan in general but also the ignorant
among my followers will think that I am inventing groundless
falsehoods in an attempt to make people believe me. However,
I am saying all this for the benefit of those men and women
who believe in the principle of Buddhism, and I will leave
it to them to make their own judgment.
The Myoshogonno (twenty-seventh) chapter is especially
applicable to women, for it explains how a wife encouraged
her husband [to take faith in the Lotus Sutra]. In the latter
age as well, though her name may differ, a wife who leads
her husband to take faith will enjoy the same benefit as
Lady Jotoku. All the more fortunate is a case like yours,
in which both wife and husband have faith! It is like a
bird possessing two wings or a cart having two wheels. What
is there that you two cannot achieve? Because there is a
heaven and an earth, a sun and a moon, the sun shines and
the rain falls, and the plants and trees of benefit will
surely blossom and bear fruit.
Next we come to the Kambotsu (twenty-eighth) chapter.
Though there were many monks among the disciples of Shakyamuni
Buddha, Mahakashyapa and Ananda always accompanied him on
his right and left, just like the ministers of the right
and left who attend the ruler. This was when the Buddha
expounded the Hinayana sutras. Moreover, among all the innumerable
bodhisattvas, Fugen and Monju were distinguished as Lord
Shakyamuni's ministers of the right and left. It was strange,
therefore that Bodhisattva Fugen, one of Shakyamuni's two
ministers, should be absent during the eight years when
the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra, which surpasses all
the other sutras of his lifetime teachings, in the ceremony
where the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions
gathered in numbers exceeding those of the dust particles
that comprise the earth. But when the Myoshogonno
chapter had been expounded and the preaching of the Lotus
Sutra was drawing to a close, Bodhisattva Fugen came hurrying
belatedly from the land of the Buddha King Surpassing the
Awesome Excellence of Gems in the east, accompanied by the
sounds of billions of musical instruments and leading a
retinue of countless numbers of the eight kinds of lowly
beings. Probably fearing the Buddha's displeasure at his
tardy arrival, he assumed a serious expression and pledged
in all earnestness to protect the votary of the Lotus Sutra
in the latter age. The Buddha, no doubt pleased with Fugen's
extraordinary sincerity in vowing to spread the Lotus Sutra
throughout the continent of Jambudvipa, thereupon praised
him - more warmly, in fact, than he had earlier praised
the other bodhisattvas of high rank.
It is no ordinary thing for a woman in the latter age to
have resolved to make an offering to each of the twenty-eight
chapters of this wonderful Lotus Sutra. At the ceremony
of the Hoto (eleventh) chapter, the Tathagatas Taho
and Shakyamuni, the Buddhas of the ten directions and all
bodhisattvas gathered together. When I ponder where the
Hoto chapter is now, I see that it is to be found
in the eight-petaled lotus of the heart within the breast
of Lady Nichinyo. This is like the lotus seed containing
the lotus flower within it or an empress carrying a crown
prince in her womb. When someone, having observed the ten
good precepts, is destined to be born a crown prince and
awaits his birth in the empress's womb, the heavenly gods
will protect him. That is why a crown prince is called the
Son of Heaven. Each of the 69,384 characters of the twenty-eight
chapters of the Lotus Sutra is like a crown prince and is
the seed of a Buddha.
There are shadows in the darkness, but people cannot discern
them. There are trails in the sky where birds fly, but people
cannot recognize them. There are paths in the sea along
which fish swim, but people cannot perceive them. All people
and things of the four continents are reflected in the moon
without a single exception, but people cannot see them.
But they are visible to the divine eye. In like manner,
common mortals cannot see that the Hoto chapter exists
within the body of Lady Nichinyo, but Shakyamuni, Taho and
the Buddhas of the ten directions perceive it. I, Nichiren,
also presume this to be the case. How worthy of respect!
King Wen of the Chou dynasty was victorious in battle because
he took care to provide for elderly people. Toward the end
of the thirty-seven reigns spanning eight hundred years
that his descendants ruled, there were some incidents of
misgovernment, but on the whole the Chou dynasty prospered
due to that fundamental virtue. King Ajatashatru, though
a most evil man, was able to hold the throne for ninety
years owing to the merit of his father, King Bimbisara,
who had made offerings to the Buddha for several years.
The same principle holds true today. I do not think the
present regime will last long, as it opposes the Lotus Sutra.
Yet, probably because of the excellent administrations of
the late Gon no Tayu and the former governor of Musashi,
it appears to be secure for the time being. But in this
case, too, the present government will eventually collapse
if it continues its enmity toward the Lotus Sutra. The government
officials mistakenly think that the Nembutsu priests are
friendly to the Lotus Sutra while Nichiren is hostile to
the Nembutsu; and they claim to believe in both teachings.
I, Nichiren, say in rebuttal: if nothing is vitally wrong
with the present government, then why have such unprecedented
epidemics, famines and wars broken out? Why have the authorities
twice subjected the votary of the Lotus Sutra to grave punishment
without allowing him to confront the other sects in open
debate? How pitiful!
Even under such circumstances, you as a woman have inherited
the life of the Lotus Sutra. In fact you have inherited
the life of the parents of Shakyamuni, Taho and all the
Buddhas of the ten directions. Is there anyone else in the
world who enjoys such good fortune?
With my deep respect,
Nichiren
The twenty-fifth day of the sixth month
Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin,
Vol. 5, page 263.
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