On Offerings for Deceased Ancestors
Chapter3(Revealing the Simultaneous Attainment of Buddhahood by Parent and Child through the Correct Teaching)
Main Text
Later, however, following the teaching of the Lotus Sutra to honestly discard expedient means,6 the Venerable Maudgalyāyana summarily rejected and cast aside the two hundred and fifty precepts of the Hinayana teaching and chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. In time Maudgalyāyana attained Buddhahood and was called by the name Tamalapattra Sandalwood Fragrance Buddha. And at that time his father and mother, too, attained Buddhahood. Hence it is said in the Lotus Sutra, “Then our wishes will be fulfilled and the longings of the multitude will likewise be satisfied.”7
Maudgalyāyana’s physical body was inherited by him from his parents. Therefore, when his own physical body attained Buddhahood, the bodies of his father and mother likewise attained Buddhahood.
By way of analogy, let us consider the case of the military leader Taira no Kiyomori, the governor of Aki, who lived at the time of the eighty-first sovereign of Japan, Emperor Antoku. Kiyomori, engaging in one battle after another, overthrew the enemies of the nation and in time advanced to the highest post in the government, that of grand minister of state. Emperor Antoku was his grandson. All the members of his clan were permitted to enter the palace and were assigned to positions of great eminence. Kiyomori held the entire country of Japan, with its sixty-six provinces and two outlying islands,8 in the palm of his hand, and people bowed before him as plants and trees bow before a great wind.
But he became arrogant and puffed up with pride and, in the end, treated the gods and Buddhas with contempt and attempted to control the shrine keepers and the Buddhist priests. As a result, he aroused the enmity of the priests of Mount Hiei and of the seven major temples of Nara. Eventually, on the twenty-second day of the twelfth month in the fourth year of the Jishō era (1180), he went so far as to burn down two of those seven temples, Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji.
The retribution for this grave offense soon fell upon the person of the grand minister and lay priest himself. In the following year, the first year of the Yōwa era, on the fourth day of the intercalary second month, [having contracted a fever] he began to burn like a piece of charcoal, his body the fuel, his face the flames. In the end, tongues of flame shot out from his body, and he perished from the heat.
The results of his grave offense then fell upon his second son, Munemori. Munemori was thought to have drowned in the western sea [at the battle of Dannoura], but he came floating up on the eastern horizon, where he was captured, bound, and forced to kneel in the presence of the general of the right, Minamoto no Yoritomo.
Meanwhile, Kiyomori’s third son, Tomomori, threw himself into the sea and ended up as the excrement of fish. And his fourth son, Shigehira,9 was taken captive and bound and, after having been dragged first through Kyoto and then through Kamakura, was in the end handed over to the seven major temples of Nara. There a great multitude of a hundred thousand temple followers gathered and, declaring him to be an enemy of their Buddha, one by one slashed him with swords.
The greatest evil among evils produces consequences that not only affect the perpetrators personally but extend to their sons, their grandsons, and so on down to the seventh generation. And the same is true of the greatest good among good.
The Venerable Maudgalyāyana put his faith in the Lotus Sutra, which is the greatest good there is, and thus not only did he himself attain Buddhahood, but his father and mother did so as well. And, amazing as it may seem, all the fathers and mothers of the preceding seven generations and the seven generations that followed, indeed, of countless lifetimes before and after, were able to become Buddhas. In addition, all their sons, their wives or husbands, their retainers, supporters, and countless other persons not only were enabled to escape from the three evil paths, but all attained the first stage of security and then Buddhahood, the stage of perfect enlightenment.
Therefore, it is said in the third volume of the Lotus Sutra, “We beg that the merit gained through these gifts may be spread far and wide to everyone, so that we and other living beings all together may attain the Buddha way.”10
Notes
6. Lotus Sutra, chap. 2.
7. Ibid., chap. 9.
8. The two outlying islands refer to Iki and Tsushima, islands off the coast of Kyushu.
9. Taira no Shigehira (1156–1185). In 1180, by command of his father, Taira no Kiyomori, he attacked the priests of Nara and burned down Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji temples. In 1184, however, at the Battle of Ichinotani, Shigehira was captured by the Minamoto forces and eventually handed over to the priests of Nara, who had him beheaded.
10. Lotus Sutra, chap. 7.
Lecture
Maudgalyayana’s Enlightenment and the Simultaneous Attainment of Buddhahood by Parent and Child
Next, the Daishonin explains that although Maudgalyāyana was initially unable to save his mother from the realm of Hungry Spirits, his parents also attained Buddhahood at the exact moment he achieved Buddhahood through the Lotus Sutra. Conversely, he cites the historical example of Taira no Kiyomori, whose grave offenses plunged both himself and his children into immense suffering. The Daishonin thus clarifies that the evil karma of slandering the Law (hōbō) brings suffering upon one’s descendants even to the seventh generation, while the great good of embracing the Lotus Sutra enables parents and descendants across countless generations to attain Buddhahood.
In the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings (nizen-kyō), those of the two vehicles, such as Maudgalyāyana, were shunned as being eternally incapable of attaining Buddhahood. However, upon the preaching of the Lotus Sutra, their enlightenment was finally permitted. In the “Introduction to Mandates” (Juki-hon) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Maudgalyāyana receives a prophecy of enlightenment: “He will surely attain Buddhahood, and his name will be Tamalapatra Sandalwood Fragrance Tathagata… His kalpa will be named Joyful Fulfilment, and his land will be named Delightful… The lifespan of this Buddha will be twenty-four minor kalpas. His Correct Law will abide in the world for forty minor kalpas, and his Counterfeit Law will also abide for forty minor kalpas.”
When Maudgalyāyana attained Buddhahood, his parents simultaneously achieved Buddhahood as well. The reason for this is described as follows: “Maudgalyāyana’s physical body (shikishin) is the remains left behind by his parents. Since Maudgalyāyana’s physical body became a Buddha, the bodies of his parents likewise became Buddhas.” Because a child’s flesh and blood is the physical form given and raised by their parents, if the child’s body achieves Buddhahood, it is impossible for the bodies of the parents—the very source of that form—not to attain Buddhahood as well.
This simultaneous enlightenment of father and child is also expounded in Jōren-bō Gofuku-sho (On the Offerings of Jōren-bō): “Maudgalyāyana rescued his loving mother from the suffering of the realm of Hungry Spirits, and Jñānendra and Jñānagarbha (Jōzō and Jōgen) converted their loving father from his distorted views. The remains left behind by parents constitute the physical and spiritual being (shikishin) of the child. The benefit gained by Jōren-shōnin from embracing the Lotus Sutra is identical to the power of his loving father… How could the Lotus Sutra embraced by Jōren-shōnin fail to become the benefit and virtue for the deceased spirit of his late father?”
Furthermore, in Hōren-shō (On the Hōren Sutra), it is stated: “The Lotus Sutra possesses the function to lead all living beings to Buddhahood. Among the living beings of the six paths and four forms of birth, there are men and women, and these men and women were all our parents in past existences. If even one person is left behind, one cannot achieve Buddhahood oneself. Therefore, those of the two vehicles were designated as people who do not know gratitude and were taught to be eternally incapable of attaining Buddhahood, because their spirit of filial piety was not all-encompassing. The Buddha awakened to the Lotus Sutra and thereby embodied the benefit of filial piety toward the parents of the six paths and four forms of birth. The Buddha bestows this benefit upon those who believe in the Lotus Sutra.” The Daishonin thus teaches that the Lotus Sutra, which enables all living beings to attain Buddhahood, is the supreme sutra of filial piety.
The Historical Account of Taira no Kiyomori and the Great Evil of Slandering the Law
The reason the Daishonin invokes the historical account of Taira no Kiyomori immediately after explaining the simultaneous enlightenment of parent and child is to provide a historical illustration: just as a parent’s evil deeds cause their children to fall into great suffering, the great good root of embracing the Lotus Sutra conversely enables parents and descendants of countless lifetimes to attain Buddhahood.
It was on December 23 in the fourth year of Jisho (1180) that Taira no Kiyomori decided to subjugate the seven great temples of Nanto (Nara). This decision was prompted by the fact that the warrior-monks of Nanto had clearly sided with the Minamoto (Genji) clan to overthrow the Taira (Heike) clan. Led by Taira no Shigehira as the grand general, the massive Taira army invaded Nara from two directions—the Kawachi road and the Yamashiro road—and the decisive battle took place on the 28th. Kōfuku-ji temple resisted with an army of sixty thousand warrior-monks but was defeated. The halls and pagodas of both Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji temples were completely reduced to ashes by fires set by the Taira forces. This incident proved to be a turning point, as the Taira clan completely alienated the influential temples and the court aristocracy, thereby accelerating their own downfall.
Kiyomori died the following year on March 4 during the intercalary month of the first year of Yōwa (1181). Contemporary records describe his death as “feverish agony and suffocation,” which the Daishonin vividly characterizes by stating, “He died of intense heat.”
Munemori, the second son who succeeded Kiyomori as the head of the Taira clan, led the family out of the capital to rebuild their military forces in the western provinces. However, they were repeatedly defeated by the Minamoto army at Ichino-tani and Yashima. When the clan was finally destroyed at the Battle of Dan-no-ura on March 24 in the fourth year of Juei (1185), Munemori, along with Tokitada and Kiyomune, was captured alive. Although he was sent to Kamakura, he was ordered back to Kyoto and was ultimately executed by Minamoto no Yoshitsune at Shinohara in Ōmi Province, and his severed head was put on public display.
Tomomori, the third son, committed suicide by drowning at Dan-no-ura. Shigehira, the fourth son, was captured upon his defeat at the Battle of Ichino-tani. Following the downfall of the Taira clan, he was transferred to Nara in the first year of Bunji (1185) and was beheaded at the Kizu River on June 23. It is said that the monks of Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji exposed his head at Narazaka.
The Daishonin cites these historical facts to convey the following instruction: “The greatest of all great evils does not merely bring suffering upon oneself; it extends to one’s children, grandchildren, and descendants down to the seventh generation.”
At that time, the world had already entered the Latter Day of the Law, and some might argue that Kiyomori’s burning of Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji temples and his opposition to Enryaku-ji temple on Mount Hiei did not constitute a slander of the Law. However, as the Daishonin notes, saying, “He held the gods and Buddhas in contempt and sought to grasp the deities and priests in his own hands,” his overwhelming arrogance in attempting to subjugate the Buddhist Law itself under his secular power constituted a monumentally evil karma.
“The greatest of all great evils” does not refer to mundane, secular crimes, but rather to an offense within the Buddhist Law—namely, the great evil karma of slandering the Correct Law.
In Ken Hōbō-shō (Clarifying Slander of the Law), it is stated: “Slander of the Law means to turn one’s back on the Law… If one opposes the Law, how can it not be slander? And if it is slander, how can it fail to bring about painful retributions?” Furthermore, as stated in Nishiyama-dono Go-返事 (Reply to Lord Nishiyama): “The human heart shifts easily and is dyed by good or evil. If one is stained by the evil of the Shingon, Zen, or Nembutsu sects, one will inevitably fall into hell. If one is dyed by the Lotus Sutra, one will surely become a Buddha.” Embracing erroneous teachings and doctrines that oppose the Correct Law contaminates one’s life and causes the suffering of hell. Moreover, this suffering is not confined to oneself alone; it extends to one’s wife, children, relatives, and descendants down to the seventh generation. Truly, the evil karma of slandering the Law is something to be profoundly dreaded.
Therefore, as stated in the golden words, “If you seek to attain Buddhahood without refuting slander of the Law, it is like seeking water within a fire or searching for fire within water,” the practice of shakubuku—harshly rebuking errors that oppose the Correct Law—is of paramount importance.
The Salvation of Countless Lifetimes through Great Good and the True Meaning of Urabon
“The greatest of all great goods” operates under the exact same spiritual equation. The great good of Maudgalyāyana believing in the Lotus Sutra did not merely enable him to achieve Buddhahood himself; it also enabled his parents to attain Buddhahood, and furthermore, allowed “the parents of seven generations above, seven generations below, and across countless past and future lifetimes” to all achieve Buddhahood.
In essence, what is essential is for oneself to attain Buddhahood, and transferring the benefit of that enlightenment (ekō) constitutes the true Urabon service. Furthermore, in the contemporary era of the Latter Day of the Law, it is not the Lotus Sutra of Shakyamuni, but rather Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of the Three Great Secret Laws taught by Nichiren Daishonin that stands as the sole Correct Law through which all living beings can achieve Buddhahood. When one chants the Daimoku to the Gohonzon, one achieves the fusion of objective reality and subjective wisdom (kyōchi-myōgā), entering the life-state of Buddhahood. Through that immense benefit, one’s ancestors are naturally able to attain Buddhahood.
Therefore, under the concept of “eternal Urabon and eternal equinox” (jōbon-jōhigan), the true meaning of the practice is to understand that every single day is the Obon festival and the equinox, and to offer memorial prayers for the repose of ancestors during morning and evening gongyo. Nonetheless, the reason for conducting the Urabon ceremony specifically on July 15 is to utilize this occasion to renew one’s faith and resolve, while simultaneously teaching the true meaning of Obon to those who perform the Urabon service based on erroneous teachings, thereby reforming their understanding of what it truly means to attain Buddhahood.
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