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A Ship to Cross the Sea of Suffering
When I asked him about what you told me the other day, I
found it to be exactly as you said. You should therefore
strive in faith more than ever to receive the blessings
of the Lotus Sutra. Listen with the ears of Shih K'uang
and observe with the eyes of Li Lou.1
In the Latter Day of the Law, the votary of the Lotus Sutra
will appear without fail. The greater the hardships befalling
him the greater the delight he feels, because of his strong
faith. Doesn't a fire burn more briskly when logs are added?
All rivers run to the sea, but does its fullness make the
rivers flow backward? The currents of hardship pour into
the sea of the Lotus Sutra and rush against its votary.
The river is not rejected by the ocean; neither does the
votary reject suffering. Were it not for the flowing rivers
there would be no sea. Likewise, without tribulation there
would be no votary of the Lotus Sutra. As T'ien-t'ai stated,
"All rivers flow to the sea, and logs make a fire roar."2
You must realize that it is because of a deep karmic relationship
from the past that you can teach others even a sentence
or phrase of the Lotus Sutra. The sutra reads, "It
is extremely difficult to save those who are deaf to the
True Law."3
The "True Law" means the Lotus Sutra.
A passage from the Hosshi chapter reads, "If
there is someone, whether man or woman, who secretly teaches
to one person even a single phrase of the Lotus Sutra, let
it be known that he is the envoy of the Buddha." This
means that anyone who teaches others even a single phrase
of the Lotus Sutra is clearly the Buddha's envoy, whether
he be priest or nun, lay man or woman. You are a lay believer
and one of those described in the sutra. One who hears even
a sentence or phrase of the Lotus Sutra and cherishes it
deep in his heart may be likened to a ship which navigates
the sea of suffering. The Great Teacher Miao-lo stated,
"Even a single phrase cherished deep in one's heart
will without fail help him reach the opposite shore.4
To ponder one phrase and practice it is to exercise navigation..."5
A passage from the Lotus Sutra reads, "...as though
one had found a ship to make the crossing."6
This "ship" might be described as follows: The
Lord Buddha, a shipbuilder of infinitely profound wisdom,
gathered the lumber of the four tastes and eight teachings,
planed it by honestly discarding the provisional teachings,
cut and assembled the planks, using both right and wrong,7
and completed the craft by driving home the spikes of the
one, supreme teaching. Thus he launched the ship upon the
sea of suffering. Unfurling the sails of the three thousand
conditions on the mast of the Middle Way doctrine, driven
by the fair wind of "all phenomena reveal the true
entity,"8 the vessel surges
ahead, carrying all believers who can enter Buddhahood by
their pure faith. Shakyamuni Buddha is the helmsman, Taho
Buddha mans the sails, and the four Bodhisattvas led by
Jogyo strain in unison at the creaking oars. This is the
ship in "a ship to make the crossing," the vessel
of Myoho-renge-kyo. Those who board it are the disciples
and followers of Nichiren. Believe this wholeheartedly.
When you visit Shijo Kingo, please have an earnest talk
with him. I will write you again.
With my deep respect,
Nichiren
The twenty-eighth day
of the fourth month
Footnotes:
- Shih
K'uang and Li Lou: Legendary figures in China famed, respectively
for their extraordinary hearing and vision.
- Maka
Shikan, vol. 5
- Lotus
Sutra, chap. 2
- The
opposite shore: It represents the shore of enlightenment
or nirvana, while this shore where we live represents that
of illusion.
- This
quotation from the Hokke Mongu Ki is followed by the sentence,
"Only the ship of Myoho-renge-kyo enables one to cross
the sea of suffering." But a sentence to the same effect
appears at the beginning of the next page and, if translated
literally, it will interrupt the flow of meaning. This is
why the sentence is omitted here.
- Lotus
Sutra, chap. 23
- Using
both right and wrong: Both good and evil are eternally inherent
in life. Provisional sutras hold that wicked people cannot
attain enlightenment, but the Lotus Sutra reveals that no
matter how evil one's life, he simultaneously possesses
the Buddha nature.
- Lotus
Sutra, chap. 2
Major Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol 1. p. 9.
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