On Reprimanding Hachiman Chapter16

Even if Shan-wu-wei, Chin-kang-chih, Pu-k’ung, Kōbō, Jikaku, and Chishō of the True Word teachings had not discussed the relative merits of the Lotus Sutra as it compares with the Mahāvairochana Sutra, and had only propagated the Mahāvairochana Sutra, still, as Tripitaka masters and teachers living in the age after the passing of the Buddha, they could never escape being branded as slanderers of the correct teaching. How much more so, then, when the three Tripitaka masters, Shan-wu-wei, Chin-kang-chih, and Pu-k’ung, treated the Lotus Sutra and the Mahāvairochana Sutra as though they were similar in nature, calling the former an abbreviated exposition and the latter an extensive exposition, and moreover tricking practitioners of the Lotus Sutra into accepting the Mahāvairochana Sutra! And how much more so when the three great teachers, Kōbō, Jikaku, and Chishō, referring to the Lotus Sutra by name, in their writings called it a piece of childish theory, failing to make clear the grave fault they were committing thereby and causing all persons for the past four hundred and more years to become slanderers of the correct teaching!

One may recall that, after the passing of the Buddha Great Adornment, four of his monk disciples misled six hundred ten thousand million nayutas of persons and caused them all to fall into the hell of incessant suffering; and that, long after the passing of the Buddha Lion Sound King, the monk Superior Intent misled a countless, incalculable number of precept-observing monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen and caused them all to enter the great citadel of the Avīchi hell. And now, because they followed the teachings of these three great teachers, the 4,589,659 men and women, according to the figure given by Gyōki in The Chronicles of Japan,³⁴ or the 4,994,828 inhabitants of the country of Japan, according to other calculations, then another 4,900,000, another 4,900,000 persons [and still another . . .] have over the past four hundred and more years been misled so that after their deaths they fell into the hell of incessant suffering. And beings from other realms who were later born in Japan were likewise led to fall into the hell of incessant suffering after their deaths.

Thus we see that the persons who have been caused to fall into hell are more numerous than the dust particles of the land, and all because of the faults committed by these three great teachers. And if I, Nichiren, were to observe this situation with my own eyes and yet pretend ignorance and refrain from speaking out, then I too ought to join those who have fallen into hell. Though guilty of no such fault myself, I should be condemned to journey through all the great Avīchi hells of the worlds of the ten directions. Such being the case, how then can I fail to speak out, even though it may cost me life and limb?

The Nirvana Sutra says, “The varied sufferings that all living beings undergo—all these are the Thus Come One’s own sufferings.” And Nichiren declares that the sufferings that all living beings undergo, all springing from this one cause—all these are Nichiren’s own sufferings.

34. This may refer to The Continued Chronicles of Japan, which mentions Gyōki but not the population of Japan. Concerning the population figures referred to in this sentence, their sources have not been traced. Gyōki (668–749) was a priest of Yakushi-ji temple in Nara. He traveled throughout the provinces to teach the doctrines of the Dharma Characteristics school and is said to have gained some one thousand converts. In his travels, he also built bridges and embankments, repaired roads, and carried out reclamation and irrigation work.