The Actions of the Votary of the Lotus Sutra

Chapter11(The Persecution by Nobutoki and the Official Pardon)

Main Text

Then the Nembutsu priests gathered again in council. “If things go on this way,” they said, “we will die of starvation. By all means, let’s rid ourselves of this priest! Already more than half the people in the province have gone over to his side. What are we to do?”

Yuiamidabutsu, the leader of the Nembutsu priests, along with Dōkan, a disciple of Ryōkan, and Shōyu-bō, who were leaders of the observers of the precepts, journeyed in haste to Kamakura. There they reported to the lord of the province of Musashi: “If this priest remains on the island of Sado, there will soon be not a single Buddhist hall left standing or a single priest remaining. He takes the statues of Amida Buddha and throws them in the fire or casts them into the river. Day and night he climbs the high mountains, bellows to the sun and moon, and curses the regent. The sound of his voice can be heard throughout the entire province.”

When the former governor of Musashi heard this, he decided there was no need to report it to the regent. Instead he sent private orders that any followers of Nichiren in the province of Sado should be driven out of the province or imprisoned. He also sent official letters containing similar instructions. He did so three times. I will not attempt to describe what happened during this period—you can probably imagine. Some people were thrown into prison because they were said to have walked past my hut, others were exiled because they were reported to have given me donations, or their wives and children were taken into custody. The former governor of Musashi then reported what he had done to the regent. But quite contrary to his expectations, the regent issued a letter of pardon on the fourteenth day of the second month in the eleventh year of Bun’ei (1274), which reached Sado on the eighth day of the third month.

The Nembutsu priests held another council. “This man, the archenemy of the Buddha Amida and slanderer of the Reverend Shan-tao and the Honorable Hōnen, has incurred the wrath of the authorities and happened to be banished to this island. How can we bear to see him pardoned and allowed to return home alive!”

While they were engaged in various plots, for some reason there was an unexpected change in the weather. A favorable wind began to blow, and I was able to leave the island. The strait can be crossed in three days with a favorable wind, but not even in fifty or a hundred days when the weather is bad. I crossed over in no time at all.

Thereupon the Nembutsu priests, observers of the precepts, and True Word priests of the provincial capital of Echigo and Zenkō-ji temple in Shinano gathered from all directions to hold a meeting. “What a shame that the Sado priests should have allowed Nichiren to return alive! Whatever we do, we must not let this priest make his way past the living body of the Buddha Amida.”²³

But in spite of their machinations, a number of warriors from the provincial government office in Echigo were dispatched to escort me. Thus I was able to pass safely by Zenkō-ji, and the Nembutsu priests were powerless to stop me. I left the island of Sado on the thirteenth day of the third month, and arrived in Kamakura on the twenty-sixth day of the same month.

Notes

23. The living body of the Buddha Amida indicates the statue of Amida Buddha enshrined at Zenkō-ji temple in the province of Shinano (present-day Nagano Prefecture).

Lecture

By reading this treatise, one can clearly perceive the true state of the religious world during the time of Nichiren Daishonin and the extent of its corruption. This chapter, in particular, vividly exposes the repulsiveness and vulgarity of the worlds of Hungry Spirits and Asuras, where monks became obsessively sensitive only to their own livelihood and interests, resorting to any means necessary to protect their personal gain.

The lives of monks were not always this way. Originally, their conduct was strictly regulated and overseen under the Taiho Code. However, as the era began to reflect the “Five Impurities” of the Latter Day of the Law toward the end of the Heian period, order began to crumble. A surge of “overnight priests”—those who entered the priesthood merely to evade taxation—led to a disastrous decline in the quality of the clergy. Furthermore, temples received vast estates from the nobility and samurai class; they were inundated with constant requests for prayers and received enormous offerings and donations. They turned the priesthood into a mere business, entering the clergy solely to secure their own living. Thus, they were transformed into utterly unproductive entities.

The Nirvana Sutra prophesied the disgraceful conduct of future monks as follows:

“They will appear to observe the precepts, but will rarely recite the sutras. Greedy for food and drink, they will nourish only their own bodies. Although they wear the surplice (kasaya), they are like a hunter who peers narrowly as he stalks his prey, or like a cat watching a mouse. They will constantly declare, ‘I have attained the state of Arhat.’ Though they appear wise and virtuous on the outside, they harbor greed and jealousy within. They are like Brahmans who have taken a vow of silence. In truth, they are not shramanas (monks) but merely wear the guise of shramanas. Their distorted views will flourish, and they will slander the True Law.”

It is startling to see how perfectly this description matches the reality of that time, as if reflected in a mirror. One cannot help but conclude that such monks were not only a useless burden to society but, in fact, a harmful presence.

Even more abhorrent was the tie between the clergy and state power. The rulers of the day relied on the prayers of monks to suppress disasters, and for this reason, they held the clergy in high esteem. The authorities utilized religion as a tool to manipulate the masses, while the monks, seeking fame and profit, skillfully ingratiated themselves with those in power.

Figures such as Nen’a of the Nembutsu school, Doryu of the Zen school, and Ryokan of the Precepts school wielded political influence and basked in the height of their prosperity. In such an era, Nichiren Daishonin advocated the supreme and only True Law, exposed the root of all false religions, and declared the “Four Dictums.” It is only natural that these monks, who had been slumbering in their indolence, were struck with terror. One can easily understand how they, for the sake of self-preservation, readily and openly conspired with the state authorities to take action against him.

Even today, we witness an ugly collusion between erroneous religious doctrines and state power. At the root of their actions, there is neither philosophy nor ideal; there is only the desire for self-preservation. Therefore, if it serves to expand their influence or achieve personal glory and advancement, they do not hesitate to say or do things that are diametrically opposed to their own past statements.

Moreover, in their pursuit of expanding their power, they will fawningly accommodate any side and easily align themselves with any authority. Their way of life is unprincipled to the extreme. There is no possibility that such established religions, devoid of any guiding philosophy, could possess the power to lead people to happiness. Much less are they qualified to discuss the future of a nation. One can only feel pity for those who fail to see through this, led astray by sweet words and dragged along by mere custom.