Daimoku as the Seed of Buddhahood Chapter1
CONCERNING this resolve of yours, I can’t help but be reminded of the late Ueno.
I have received the horseload of taros as well as the chestnuts, parched rice, and ginger.
In the deep recesses of the mountains here no one cultivates taros. Chestnuts never ripen and ginger never sprouts. And of course parched rice is not to be seen.
Even if, for example, chestnuts were to ripen, monkeys would blight the branches and treetops. And no one cultivates taros. But even if people were to cultivate them, they detest me so they would never share them. Why was it that I had to come to such a high mountain?
Background
Nichiren Daishonin wrote this letter on the first day of the eleventh month in 1278 at Minobu to Kurō Tarō, a believer who is thought to have been a relative of Nanjō Tokimitsu. After thanking Tarō for his offerings to the Lotus Sutra，the Daishonin laments that now that 2,220 and more years have passed since the Buddha’s extinction, the latter age has begun and men of wisdom have gradually diminished in numbers. Foolish people predominate and reject the Daishonin’s message that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the seed of Buddhahood. But the late Ueno, or Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō, the father of Nanjō Tokimitsu, believed it and thus attained Buddhahood. The Daishonin praises his kin, including Tarō, and says that they possess the same heart as Hyōe Shichirō. He tells Tarō that his resolve to bring offerings despite his limited means and the rigors of the journey to Minobu ensures that he too will enjoy benefit, gain the protection of the ten demon daughters, and attain Buddhahood.