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The Universal Salty Taste
- Doitsu Kanmi Gosho -
There are six kinds of flavors: The first
is subtle, the second is salty, the third is pungent, the
fourth is sour, the fifth is sweet and the sixth is bitter.
Even if you prepare a sumptuous feast of a hundred different
dishes, it will not be fit for a great king's feast if it
lacks the single flavor of salt. Even the rarest delicacies
of all the lands and seas will taste insipid without salt.
The ocean has eight mysterious qualities.
First, the ocean becomes gradually deeper and deeper. Second,
its bottom is too deep to fathom. Third, its salty taste is
identical everywhere. Fourth, its tides rise and fall regularly.
Fifth, it houses various treasures. Sixth, living beings of
great stature reside in it. Seventh, the ocean rids itself
of corpses. Eighth, though it absorbs all rivers and heavy
rainfalls, its volume neither increases nor decreases.
The first quality, "the ocean becomes
gradually deeper and deeper," means figuratively that
the Lotus Sutra gradually leads all people, from common mortals
who lack understanding to sages who have understanding, to
attain the way of Buddhahood. "Its bottom is too deep
to fathom" indicates that the realm of the Lotus Sutra
can be understood and shared only between Buddhas; bodhisattvas
at the stage of togaku or below cannot possibly realize
it. As for the quality, "its salty taste is identical
everywhere": All the various rivers, which contain no
salt, are comparable to the sutras other than the Lotus Sutra,
which cannot enable anyone to attain enlightenment. Just as
the water of all rivers eventually flows into the ocean and
becomes salty, so all the people of different capacities instructed
through the various provisional teachings are eventually enabled
to attain the path of buddhahood by taking faith in the Lotus
Sutra. "Its tides rise and fall regularly" indicates
that those who embrace the Mystic Law will surely attain the
stage of non-regression, even if they should lose their lives.
"It houses various treasures" means that the practices
and virtuous deeds of all Buddhas and bodhisattvas, as well
as the benefits of the paramitas, are all contained
within the Mystic Law. As for the quality, "living beings
of great stature reside in it," Buddhas and bodhisattvas
are here referred to as "living beings of great stature,"
because they possess great wisdom. The great stature, the
great aspiring mind, the great extraordinary features, the
great evil-conquering forces, the great preaching, the great
authority, the great occult powers, the great compassion of
these Buddhas and bodhisattvas--all originate from the Lotus
Sutra. "The ocean rids itself of corpses" means
that through the Lotus Sutra one can free himself for all
eternity from the offense of slandering the Law or of having
incorrigible disbelief. The eighth quality, "its volume
neither increases nor decreases," means that the heart
of the Lotus Sutra is the teaching that all people equally
possess the Buddha nature.
The salty water in a tub or jar of pickled
vines ebbs and flows in exact accordance with the tides of
the ocean. A votary of the Lotus Sutra who is subjected to
imprisonment is like the salt in a tub or jar, while Shakyamuni
Buddha who freed himself from the burning house is like the
salt of the ocean. To imprison a votary of the Lotus Sutra
is to imprison Shakyamuni Buddha himself. How astonished Bonten,
Taishaku and the Four Heavenly Kings must be to witness it!
The Ten Goddesses pledged to punish anyone who persecutes
a votary by splitting his head into seven pieces. When will
this vow be fulfilled, if not now?
Virulent sores broke out suddenly all over
the body of King Ajatashatru, who had imprisoned King Bimbisara.
How can one who imprisons a votary of the Lotus Sutra avoid
the suffering of breaking out in sores all over his body?
Nichiren
Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin,
Vol. 4, page 3.
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