On Repaying Debts of Gratitude
Nichiren
Chapter26(Citing Examples of Shan-tao’s Ominous Dreams)
Main Text
On the subject of dreams, there is also the case of the priest Shan-tao in China. In his youth he met a priest named Ming-sheng90 of Mi-chou and received instruction in the Lotus Sutra. Later, however, when he met Tao-ch’o, he threw aside the Lotus Sutra and put all his trust in the Meditation Sutra. He even wrote a commentary on the sutra, which asserted that with the Lotus Sutra, not even one person in a thousand can be saved, whereas the Nembutsu practice insures that ten persons out of ten and a hundred persons out of a hundred will be reborn in the Pure Land. In order to prove his point, he prayed before Amida Buddha to confirm whether or not his views accorded with the Buddha’s intent. His commentary says, “Every night in a dream a priest would appear and tell me what to write,” and “Therefore, this commentary should be regarded with the same respect as the sutra itself.” It also says, “The Teaching on Meditation Sutra should also be revered as though it were a sutra.”
The Lotus Sutra says, “If there are those who hear the Law, then not a one will fail to attain Buddhahood.”91 But Shan-tao says that not even one in a thousand will be saved.92 The Lotus Sutra and Shan-tao are as different as fire is from water. Shan-tao says that with the Meditation Sutra ten persons out of ten and a hundred persons out of a hundred will be reborn in the Pure Land. But in the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra the Buddha says that in the Meditation Sutra “I have not yet revealed the truth.” The Immeasurable Meanings Sutra and this priest of the Willow Tree93 are as far apart as heaven and earth.
In view of this, can we really believe that Amida Buddha took the form of a priest and appeared to Shan-tao in dreams to assure him that his commentary represented the truth? Was not Amida among those present when the Lotus Sutra was preached, and did he not extend his tongue along with the other Buddhas and testify to the truth of the sutra? Were his attendants, the bodhisattvas Perceiver of the World’s Sounds and Great Power, not also present when the Lotus Sutra was preached? The answers to these questions are obvious, and in like manner, if we stop to think of it, we can see that Jikaku’s dream was a portent of evil.
Notes
90. Ming-sheng (n.d.) was a priest of the Three Treatises school during the T’ang dynasty. He was a disciple of Fa-lang, and Chia-hsiang was one of his fellow priests.
91. Lotus Sutra, chap. 2.
92. Praising Rebirth in the Pure Land.
93. “This priest of the Willow Tree” refers to Shan-tao, who was so called because he is said to have attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself from a branch of a willow tree in front of the temple where he lived in hopes of going to the Pure Land. However, either the rope or the willow branch broke, and he fell to the ground. He died a week later in torment from his injuries.
Lecture
Refutation of Shan-tao’s Deception
This chapter highlights Shan-tao, the founder of the Nembutsu (Pure Land) school in China, and refutes his deception—specifically his claim to have received direct instructions from Amida Buddha in a dream.
Even if Shan-tao or Jikaku did indeed have such dreams, the determination of the correctness of a Buddhist teaching must be based solely on objective criteria: Reason, Documentary Proof, and Actual Proof. Furthermore, it must adhere to the principle of “relying on the Law and not upon the person.” Judgments must be made based on the Buddha’s own words and the sutras as the standard; the dreams of a particular sect’s founder can never serve as a valid criterion.
In the Letter to Shimoyama (Shimoyama Goshosaku), it is stated:
“Shan-tao, whom the Nembutsu believers regard as one of the founders of their doctrine, is included among “the living beings in this threefold world,” and yet he directly contradicts the sutra passage in which Shakyamuni declares that [as for the living beings in this threefold world] “I am the only person who can rescue and protect them,” and instead states that “not even one person in a thousand” will be saved by teachings such as those of the Lotus Sutra. That is why, in his present existence, he went mad, climbed a willow tree, and threw himself down on the hard ground. Even then he was unable to die, but for fourteen days, from the fourteenth day of the month to the twenty-seventh, he raved in his madness until death finally came to him.”
Furthermore, the commentaries of High Priest Nikkan state:
“In the Zento-ki (Records of the Pure Land School), it is clarified regarding the date of Shan-tao’s passing: ‘The Shinshu-den says he passed away on the 14th day of the 3rd month in the 2nd year of Eiryu at age 69. The Teio Nendai-ki says he died on the 27th day of the 3rd month.’ Our founder [Nichiren Daishonin] deeply investigated both accounts and concluded he suffered a deranged death over fourteen days. Is this not a clear observation of actual proof?”
The Unscientific Nature of Nembutsu
Whether it be the Jodo or Jodo Shinshu sect, the so-called Nembutsu is an unscientific teaching. Even without modern scientific critique, it is clear that Nembutsu is nothing more than an expedient, provisional teaching (hoben) of Shakyamuni.
Voices denying the literal “Western Pure Land” often arise not only from other schools but from within the Pure Land fold itself. However, their founders exhibited a form of fanaticism, stating, “I would have no regrets even if I were deceived by Amida Buddha and fell into hell.” Thus, they have been aware from the beginning that Nembutsu is merely an expedient and unscientific doctrine.
The Poison of “Other-Power”
The Nembutsu of “Other-Power” (Tariki) is a path that truly poisons the spirit of Buddhism. By negating personal effort and self-improvement, it causes life-force to wither and traps people in a lethargic, degraded existence. Historically, this ideology has brought immeasurable unhappiness to the people of China and Japan.
In the Gutoku Hitan Jutokai (Confessions of the Ignorant Bald-Headed One), written by Shinran at age 86, he lamented:
“Though I have taken refuge in the Pure Land school, a true heart is hard to find. My being is empty and false; I possess no heart of purity whatsoever.”
This confession came more than thirty years after he established the Jodo Shinshu sect with the Kyogyoshinsho. Thus, one must conclude that Nembutsu is a “religion of despair.” Japanese philosophers who attempt to find religious value in it do so only out of a servile desire to emulate Western Christianity.
The Rise of the Scientific Religion: Human Revolution
Western Christianity and Japanese movements like Tenrikyo are, like Nembutsu, merely low-level religions based on unscientific “Other-Power” ideologies. It is a global trend that as science progresses, Christianity, Nembutsu, and Tenrikyo are gradually fading away.
For instance, Christianity, which surged into Japan with the American occupation forces after the war, has since entered a period of decline. Statistics show that in the decade from 1951 to 1960, the number of students attending Christian Sunday schools in Japan decreased by 100,000—a fact that speaks eloquently of this reality.
In contrast, the Great Law of Nichiren Daishonin is the most scientific religion, one that enables development and self-improvement through Human Revolution. Today, the voice seeking the Soka Gakkai is taking on a global dimension.
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