The Workings of Brahmā and Shakra

Chapter4(Admonishing Believers by Citing Examples of Those Who Backslid)

Main Text

If rumor spreads that you appear to be a votary of the Lotus Sutra, both those who are close to you and those who are not will unexpectedly admonish you as if they were your true friends, saying, “If you believe in the priest Nichiren, you will surely be misled. You will also be in disfavor with your lord.” Then, because the plots that people devise are fearsome even to worthy persons, you will certainly abandon your faith in the Lotus Sutra. So it is advisable that you do not carelessly let it be known that you are a believer. Those possessed by a great devil will, once they succeed in persuading a believer to recant, use that person as a means for making many others abandon their faith.

Shō-bō, Noto-bō, and the lay nun of Nagoe¹⁰ were once Nichiren’s disciples. Greedy, cowardly, and foolish, they nonetheless pass themselves off as wise persons. When persecutions befell me, they took advantage of these to convince many of my followers to drop out. If you allow yourself to be so persuaded, those in Suruga who seem to believe in the Lotus Sutra, as well as the others who are about to take faith in it, will all discard the sutra without exception. There are a few in this province of Kai who have expressed their desire to take faith. Yet I make it a rule not to permit them to join us unless they remain steadfast in their resolve. Some people, despite their shallow understanding, pretend staunch faith and speak contemptuously to their fellow believers, thus often disrupting the faith of others. Leave such people strictly alone. The time will certainly come when, by the workings of Brahmā, Shakra, and other gods, the entire Japanese nation will simultaneously take faith in the Lotus Sutra. At that time, I am convinced, many people will insist that they too have believed since the very beginning.

Notes

10. Disciples of the Daishonin who later abandoned their faith. Shō-bō is said to have begun doubting the Daishonin around the time of the Izu Exile in 1261. Noto-bō is said to have lost his faith around 1271. The lay nun of Nagoe, the wife of Hōjō Tomotoki, a younger brother of the third regent Yasutoki, abandoned her faith around the time of the Tatsunokuchi Persecution in 1271.

Lecture

As mentioned above, it is only natural that some would try to make Nanjō Tokimitsu abandon his faith, given that he was striving in his practice as a disciple and believer of Nichiren Daishonin, whom the entire nation hated. In response to his report that certain individuals had been advising him to give up his faith under the guise of kindness, the Daishonin gives specific instructions on how to handle the situation and guides him on the mindset needed to confront such adversity.

Demons disguise themselves as friends to proffer advice and attempt to make one discard the Lotus Sutra; therefore, one must never be deceived by such words. Furthermore, the Daishonin warns that demons first try to convince a single person to backslide, and then use that person as a stepping stone to cause many others to abandon their faith. He illustrates this by citing the actual examples of those who backslid, such as Shō-bō, Noto-bō, and the nun of Nagoe. He warns that if Tokimitsu were to backslide, it would trigger a chain reaction of defection among the believers in the Suruga area. For this very reason, the Daishonin mentions that in the Kai area, he does not allow anyone to enter discipleship unless their resolve in faith is firmly determined. This is because the Daishonin foresaw that those with half-hearted faith would fall into arrogance and lead other believers astray.

The passage, “Those among Nichiren’s disciples who turned back—such as Shō-bō, Noto-bō, and the nun of Nagoe—were greedy, cowardly, and foolish, yet they claimed to be wise men. When trouble arose, they took advantage of the opportunity to lead many others astray,” is frequently cited by the Daishonin as a historical precedent of those who backslid.

In “On Persecutions Befalling the Sage” (Shonin Go-nanji), he similarly states:

“I have been repeating these things in detail day after day, month after month, year after year. Yet with the lay nun of Nagoe, Shō-bō, Noto-bō, Sammi-bō,⁵ and the like, who are cowardly, unreasoning, greedy, and doubting, my words have no more effect than pouring water on lacquer ware or slicing through air.” (WND-1, p. 998)

The common causes of backsliding cited in both this letter and “On Persecutions Befalling the Sage” are greed and cowardice.

Next, this letter points out the arrogance of claiming to be a wise man while actually being foolish, whereas “On Persecutions Befalling the Sage” highlights those who “forget what they have learned and are full of doubts.” While “forgetting what one has learned” and being “foolish” are essentially the same, there is a nuance difference between being “full of doubts” on one hand and “claiming to be a wise man” on the other. However, both stem from the same root of arrogance; thinking oneself wise leads to a failure to honestly believe the Daishonin’s teachings, which manifests as “doubt.” In either case, these expressions describe the behavior of a conceited mind that lacks a genuine seeking spirit, harbors doubts about the Daishonin’s Buddhism, interprets it through personal views, and acts as if one were a person of great wisdom.

Shō-bō, Noto-bō, and the nun of Nagoe mentioned in this letter were all greedy and cowardly. Incapable of recognizing their own foolishness, they claimed to be wise, but they quickly backslid when confronted with the Daishonin’s great trials, such as the Tatsunokuchi Persecution, the Izu Exile, and the Sado Exile.

Regarding Shō-bō, a passage in “The Genuineness of the Daimoku” states, “In general, those among Nichiren’s disciples who go up to Kyoto forget at first, but later become possessed by heavenly devils and act like madmen, just like Shō-bō,” suggesting that he went to Kyoto to study. However, being inherently greedy and cowardly, he must have been corrupted by fame and fortune, succumbing to the delusion that he had become a man of wisdom.

Furthermore, in “Letter to Ben” the Daishonin mentions Noto-bō alongside Shō-bō, noting their greed and cowardice:

“Noto-bō was actually a supporter of mine, but out of fear of what the world might do to him, or out of greed, he not only abandoned me but in fact became my enemy. And Shō-bō has done likewise.” (WND-2, p. 661)

Regarding the nun of Nagoe, “Reply to the New Nun” states, “The landowner [the nun of Nagoe] was deceitful and foolish, believing at one time and violating the teachings at another, showing no constancy. When Nichiren incurred the shogunate’s wrath, she immediately abandoned the Lotus Sutra,” indicating that she defected during the Tatsunokuchi Persecution and Sado Exile. Later, when one of the Daishonin’s disciples met her and heard her boasting about T’ien-t’ai doctrines, the disciple strictly reprimanded her, as recorded in “The Royal Palace”:

“I have heard a great deal about the lay nun of Nagoe here, too. I was told that someone happened to meet her and took her soundly to task for praising the doctrine of theoretical endowment.” (WND-1, p.489)

She, too, played the part of a wise person by boasting of T’ien-t’ai doctrines.

Among the common causes of defection identified by Nichiren Daishonin, the first, “being greedy,” means losing one’s way due to immediate, short-term desires and thereby breaking one’s faith.

The second, “being cowardly,” means losing the courage to maintain faith due to the fear of persecution.

The third, “forgetting what one has learned,” means failing to internalize the Daishonin’s constant guidance, listening to it as if it concerned someone else, and quickly forgetting it.

Furthermore, claiming to be a wise person while being foolish means failing to perceive one’s own ignorance and laboring under the delusion of wisdom. Because such individuals lose their seeking spirit and fall into arrogance, they fail to listen to the Daishonin’s guidance with honesty and earnestness, harboring suspicions and thus becoming “full of doubts.”

From these warnings, what is vital for maintaining an unshakeable faith becomes clear:

First, one must not be swayed by shallow, short-term interests, but must fully dedicate oneself to faith with the great purpose of attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime.

Second, one must summon the courage that no hardship can break. Those who maintain a courageous faith to fight against obstacles will engrave the Daishonin’s guidance into their lives and never forget it.

Third, one must continuously kindle a seeking mind, humbly seeking the Daishonin’s teachings and putting them into practice.

This devotion in faith is the ultimate key to overcoming hardships and achieving Buddhahood in this lifetime.

“Leave such people strictly alone. The time will certainly come when, by the workings of Brahmā, Shakra, and other gods, the entire Japanese nation will simultaneously take faith in the Lotus Sutra.“

This is the Daishonin’s prophecy that the time of kosen-rufu will surely arrive, when all the people of Japan will come to embrace the True Law. It shares the same meaning as the passage in “The True Aspect of All Phenomena”: ” At the time when the Law has spread far and wide, the entire Japanese nation will chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, as surely as an arrow aimed at the earth cannot miss the target.” (WND-1, p. 385)

Regarding the conditions that will bring about this time of kosen-rufu, “The Selection of the Time” states:

“At that time, Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the Buddhas of the ten directions will speak to the great bodhisattvas who sprang up from the earth, and the great bodhisattvas will in turn report to Brahmā, Shakra, the gods of the sun and moon, and the four heavenly kings. As a result, strange occurrences and unusual disturbances will appear in abundance in the heavens and on earth.

If there are countries whose rulers fail to heed this warning, then the Buddhas and the great bodhisattvas will order neighboring countries to attack the evil rulers and evil priests of those countries. Then great struggles and disputes such as have never been known in the past will break out in Jambudvīpa.

At that time, all the people living in the land illuminated by the sun and moon, fearing the destruction of their nation or the loss of their lives, will pray to the Buddhas and bodhisattvas for help. And if there is no sign that their prayers will be answered, they will put their faith in this single humble priest whom they earlier hated. Then all the countless eminent priests, the great rulers of the eighty thousand countries, and the numberless common people will all bow their heads to the ground, press their palms together, and in one voice will chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.“ (WND-1, p.542)

These words reflect the Daishonin’s profound conviction that the time of kosen-rufu will inevitably come, as it is an absolute principle of Buddhism.