We have recently experienced great earthquakes, huge comets, and other calamities such as never occurred in the Former or Middle Day. These signs could not be caused by garuda birds, asura demons, or dragon deities. They must foretell the appearance of the four great bodhisattvas. T’ien-t’ai states, “By observing the fury of the rain, we can tell the greatness of the dragon that caused it, and by observing the flourishing of the lotus flowers, we can tell the depth of the pond they grow in.” Miao-lo says, “Wise men can perceive the cause of things, as snakes know the way of snakes.” When the skies are clear, the ground is illuminated. Similarly, when one knows the Lotus Sutra, one understands the meaning of all worldly affairs.
The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind Established in the Fifth Five-Hundred-Year Periodafter the Thus Come One’s Passing
Nichiren, the shramana of Japan
～(omitted)～
Question: Does the Buddha predict their coming in the Latter Day of the Law?
Answer: The Buddha states, “In the last five-hundred-year period the Lotus Sutra will spread abroad widely throughout Jambudvīpa.”85 The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai predicts, “In the last five-hundred-year period, the mystic way will spread and benefit humankind far into the future.”86 Miao-lo predicts, “The beginning of the Latter Day of the Law will not be without inconspicuous benefit.”87 The Great Teacher Dengyō says, “The Former and Middle Days are almost over, and the Latter Day is near at hand.”88 The latter part of this quotation means that his was not the right time for propagation. The Great Teacher Dengyō, who was living in Japan, foresaw the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law, saying: “Speaking of the age, [the propagation of the true teaching will begin] in the age p.376when the Middle Day of the Law ends and the Latter Day opens. Regarding the land, it will begin in a land to the east of T’ang and to the west of Katsu.89 As for the people, it will spread among people stained by the five impurities who live in a time of conflict. The sutra says, ‘Since hatred and jealousy toward this sutra abound even when the Thus Come One is in the world, how much more will this be so after his passing?’ There is good reason for this statement.”90
“A time of conflict” in this commentary refers to the two disasters of internal strife and invasion from the western sea that are occurring at present. At this time the countless Bodhisattvas of the Earth will appear and establish in this country the object of devotion, foremost in Jambudvīpa, that depicts Shakyamuni Buddha of the essential teaching attending [the eternal Buddha]. This object of devotion has never appeared in India or China. Its time had not come when Prince Jōgū in Japan constructed Shitennō-ji temple, so he could only make a statue of Amida, a Buddha of another world, the object of devotion. When Emperor Shōmu erected Tōdai-ji temple, he enshrined a statue of the Buddha of the Flower Garland Sutra [Vairochana Buddha] as the object of devotion, but could not manifest the true meaning of the Lotus Sutra. The Great Teacher Dengyō almost revealed the truth of the sutra. The time had not yet come, however, and so he built a statue of the Buddha of the Eastern Region,91 but did not represent the four bodhisattvas of the essential teaching in any form. Ultimately, this was because the revelation of the true object of devotion had been entrusted only to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. They have been waiting for the right time to emerge from beneath the earth and carry out the Buddha’s decree. They did not appear in the Former or Middle Day. But if they do not appear in the Latter Day of the Law, their vows would be outright lies, and the prophecies of Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the Buddhas of the ten directions would be no more than froth on the waters.
We have recently experienced great earthquakes, huge comets, and other calamities such as never occurred in the Former or Middle Day. These signs could not be caused by garuda birds, asura demons, or dragon deities. They must foretell the appearance of the four great bodhisattvas. T’ien-t’ai states, “By observing the fury of the rain, we can tell the greatness of the dragon that caused it, and by observing the flourishing of the lotus flowers, we can tell the depth of the pond they grow in.”92 Miao-lo says, “Wise men can perceive the cause of things, as snakes know the way of snakes.”93 When the skies are clear, the ground is illuminated. Similarly, when one knows the Lotus Sutra, one understands the meaning of all worldly affairs.
Showing profound compassion for those unable to comprehend the gem of the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, the Buddha wrapped it within the five characters [of Myoho-renge-kyo], with which he then adorned the necks of the ignorant people of the latter age. The four great bodhisattvas will protect anyone who embraces the five characters as faithfully as T’ai-kung Wang and the Duke of Chou supported King Wen, and as devotedly as the Four White-Haired Elders94 served Emperor Hui.
Written by Nichiren.
The twenty-fifth day of the fourth month in the tenth year of Bun’ei (1273), with the cyclical sign mizunoto-tori
p.377Cover Letter
I have received an unlined robe,95 three sumi inksticks, and five writing brushes.
I have written down some of my thoughts concerning the doctrine of observing the mind. I am sending the treatise to Ōta, Kyōshin-bō,96 and the others. It explains an important matter that concerns me, Nichiren, and must be kept secret. Only those of single-minded faith should be allowed to read it.
The treatise contains many difficult points and few answers. What it reveals, however, has never been heard of before and is bound to startle those who read or hear of it. If you do show it to others, never allow three or four persons to read it together at one time.
In the more than 2,220 years since the Buddha’s passing, the heart of this treatise has never been revealed before. Despite the official persecution facing me, I expound it now in the fifth five-hundred-year period, when the time is ripe for its propagation. I hope those who read it will remain firm in their faith so that both teacher and disciples can together reach the pure land of Eagle Peak and behold with reverence the faces of Shakyamuni Buddha, Many Treasures Buddha, and the Buddhas of the ten directions.
With my deep respect,
Nichiren
The twenty-sixth day of the fourth month in the tenth year of Bun’ei (1273), with the cyclical sign mizunoto-tori
Reply to Toki
Background
Nichiren Daishonin completed this work, one of his most important, in the fourth month of 1273, during his exile at Ichinosawa on the island of Sado. It was addressed specifically to Toki Jōnin, a leading disciple who lived in Shimōsa Province, and its cover letter instructed that because it revealed the Daishonin’s ultimate teaching it should be shown to only those with strong faith.
In another of his major works, The Opening of the Eyes, written on Sado Island a year earlier, the Daishonin explains the object of devotion in terms of the Person. He declares that he is endowed with the three virtues of sovereign, teacher, and parent, implying that he is the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law who leads all people to Buddhahood. In the present work, the Daishonin explains the object of devotion in terms of the Law and declares that the Gohonzon that embodies the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the object of devotion in the Latter Day. Faith and practice based on the Gohonzon enable everyone to perceive the Buddha nature in his or her own life and attain Buddhahood.
Four important elements are contained in the full title of this work, The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind Established in the Fifth Five-Hundred-Year Period after the Thus Come One’s Passing. They are the time, the Buddha’s teaching, the people’s capacity, and the Law. Concerning the time, a Buddha appears in accordance with the deep desire of the people to see him. The time for his advent is defined as the “fifth five-hundred-year period after the Thus p.378Come One’s [Shakyamuni’s] passing.” Concerning the Buddha’s teaching, this is indicated by the word “established.” In establishing the Gohonzon, Nichiren Daishonin, considering the people’s capacity, depicted the essence of the Lotus Sutra, or the Law he perceived. The people’s capacity means that “for observing [the true nature of] the mind.” The Law is indicated by the phrase “the object of devotion.”
Nichiren Daishonin embodied in the object of devotion the state of life he enjoyed as the eternal Buddha so that people could attain the same condition of enlightenment. A description of the Gohonzon in the text includes a depiction of the ceremony of the transmission of the Law: “Myoho-renge-kyo appears in the center of the tower with the Buddhas Shakyamuni and Many Treasures seated to the right and left, and, flanking them, the four bodhisattvas, followers of Shakyamuni, led by Superior Practices” (p. 366).
The text may be broadly divided into four sections. The first section explains the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life. The Daishonin elucidates this doctrine by referring to the works of the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai of China, who based his exposition on the Lotus Sutra, and to the works of other Chinese scholars.
The second section discusses the meaning of “observing the mind.” T’ien-t’ai established a complex practice of meditation as a means to perceive the true nature of one’s own life. This was to observe one’s mind, or to perceive all the three thousand realms in a single moment of one’s own life.
Here the Daishonin proclaims that the practice of observing one’s mind in the Latter Day of the Law is none other than to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with firm faith in the true object of devotion, saying: “Shakyamuni’s practices and the virtues he consequently attained are all contained within the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo. If we believe in these five characters, we will naturally be granted the same benefits as he was” (p. 365). This is the principle that embracing the true object of devotion is in itself enlightenment.
The third section describes the Gohonzon, the object of devotion, by classifying the entire body of the Buddhist teachings into three categories: preparation, revelation, and transmission. In terms of the Daishonin’s teachings, preparation includes all the teachings of all Buddhas throughout time and space; revelation is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the Law implied in the depths of the “Life Span” chapter; and transmission, the teachings of all Buddhas seen in the light of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
The Daishonin asserts that Shakyamuni’s is the Buddhism of the harvest, meaning that he expounded his enlightenment as an effect only, without revealing the cause. The Daishonin’s teaching, however, is called the Buddhism of sowing, for it teaches the cause for attaining enlightenment directly, thus guiding people compassionately in their quest for the ultimate state of life.
In this section, Nichiren Daishonin identifies the object of devotion implied in the “Life Span” chapter as the entity of the Law for propagation in the Latter Day. He states that the Bodhisattvas of the Earth will surely appear in the world to establish this supreme object of devotion.
The fourth section brings the treatise to a close by declaring that the eternal Buddha who appears in the Latter Day of the Law will establish the Gohonzon of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo out of profound compassion for the people of that age, who are ignorant of the principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life.