The Workings of Brahmā and Shakra
Chapter5(Teaching the Attitude of Faith and Offering Encouragement)
Main Text
If your faith is firm, then you should single-mindedly resolve: “I maintain faith not for the sake of other people but for the benefit of my deceased father. Others will not perform memorial services for him; because I am his son, I am the one who must pray for his repose. I govern one village. I will spend one half of my revenue making offerings for the sake of my deceased father, and use the other half to feed my wife, children, and clansmen. Should an emergency arise, I will give my life for my lord.” Speak in a mild manner, no matter what the circumstances.
If people should try to weaken your belief in the Lotus Sutra, consider that your faith is being tested. Tell them sardonically, “I deeply appreciate your warning. However, you should save your admonishment for yourselves. I know well that our lord does not approve of my faith. The idea of your threatening me in his name is simply absurd. I was contemplating visiting you all and giving you some advice, but you came here before I could follow through. You will surely join your palms together and beseech me for help when you, along with your beloved wife and children, are dragged out before King Yama.”
What you say about Niida11 may well be true. I have also heard about the people at Okitsu.12 If the occasion arises, you should behave exactly as they did. When those of rank reproach you for your faith, think of them as worthy adversaries of the Lotus Sutra. Consider it an opportunity as rare as the blossoming of the udumbara plant, or the blind turtle encountering a p.801floating sandalwood log,13 and reply to them firmly and resolutely.
There have been instances in which those who governed a thousand or ten thousand chō of land had their lives summarily taken and their estates confiscated over trifling matters. If you give your life now for the sake of the Lotus Sutra, what is there to regret? Bodhisattva Medicine King burned his own body for twelve hundred years and became a Buddha. King Suzudan made a bed of his own body for his teacher for a thousand years; as a result, he was reborn as Shakyamuni Buddha.
Make no mistake. If you abandon your faith in the Lotus Sutra now, you will only make yourself the laughingstock of your foes. Shamelessly pretending friendship, they will try to maneuver you into recanting, with the intention of later laughing at you and letting others ridicule you as well. Let them say all they have to say. Then tell them, “Instead of advising me in the presence of many people, why don’t you admonish yourselves first?” With this remark, abruptly rise from your seat and depart.
Please let me know in a day or two what has happened since you wrote. There are so many things I want to say that I cannot write all of them here. I will do so in my future letters.
With my deep respect,
Nichiren
The fifteenth day of the fifth month in the third year of Kenji (1277)
Reply to Ueno
Notes
11. Niida Shirō Nobutsuna, a follower of the Daishonin who lived in Hatake of Izu Province. He was an elder brother of Nichimoku Shōnin (1260–1333), and his mother was an elder sister of Nanjō Tokimitsu. Together with Tokimitsu and others, he endeavored to spread the Daishonin’s teachings in northern Japan. What Tokimitsu reported about him is not clear, but presumably the Daishonin means that Niida never yielded to persecution but steadfastly maintained his faith.
12. A village located on the shore of Suruga Bay. The “people at Okitsu” possibly refers to Jōren-bō, a disciple who lived here and had a close connection with the lay priest Takahashi of Fuji District, and to other followers.
13. The udumbara plant is said to bloom once every three thousand years to herald the advent of a Buddha. The analogy of the blind turtle is mentioned in chapter 27 of the Lotus Sutra which says that encountering Buddhism is as rare as a one-eyed turtle finding a floating sandalwood log with a hollow in it to hold him.
Lecture
This letter provides specific guidance on what attitude one should maintain toward false advisers who pretend to be allies while encouraging one to abandon their faith.
First, it advises the recipient to make up his mind, thinking: “My faith is for the sake of offering memorial services for my deceased father. Of the income obtained from my fief in this village, I will use half as offerings for my late father and the Buddhist Law, and the remaining half for my wife, children, and retainers, while dedicating my own life to my lord.”
Furthermore, the Daishonin states that toward those who try to make one abandon faith in the Lotus Sutra, one should view them as testing one’s faith and rebuke them in turn, saying: “I appreciate your advice out of concern for me, but you should worry about your own self instead. I am already well aware that the shogunate opposes the correct teaching and looks unfavorably upon those who practice it, so it is laughable of you to use that to threaten me. In fact, I was planning to visit you to teach the Buddhist Law and advise you, but you have anticipated me. When you fall into hell along with your families for opposing the correct teaching, you will surely cry out to me for help.”
Next, although the specific details regarding Nitta Shiro and Okitsu remain unclear, the context suggests that they endured hardships, maintained their faith in the Lotus Sutra, and fought against persecution. Thus, Tokimitsu is also encouraged to maintain a resolute faith.
Citing the examples of Bodhisattva Medicine King and King Shibi (Dan-o), he teaches that a faith unsparing of one’s life is the key to attaining Buddhahood, and that one should rather rejoice in facing difficulties.
Finally, the Daishonin warns that such people merely pretend to be allies to make one abandon faith so that they can mock them afterward. Therefore, one must see through their true nature, let them speak their mind fully, and then sternly refute them, saying: “Rather than advising others in the presence of a large crowd, you should advise your own self,” before standing up and leaving the room.
The third year of Kenji (1277), when this letter was written, was a time when propagation (shakubuku) was actively being carried out in the Atsuhara area under the leadership of Nikko Shonin. It is evident that the precursors to the storm of the Atsuhara Persecution, which would break out two years later, were already manifesting around Tokimitsu.
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