This Person Advances through the World

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The present time corresponds to the first five hundred years of the Latter Day of the Law. Passages of the sutra clearly state that at this time Bodhisattva Superior Practices will appear and bestow the five characters of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo on all the people of Japan. And they reveal that he will face exile and execution. I am also like the envoy of Bodhisattva Superior Practices because I spread this teaching.

This Person Advances through the World

Background

JUST when I had not heard from you for some time, your letter arrived. In addition, I have received a quilted robe with a blue lining, a hat, a sash, one thousand coins, and a basket of chestnuts.

The present time corresponds to the first five hundred years of the Latter Day of the Law. Passages of the sutra clearly state that at this time Bodhisattva Superior Practices will appear and bestow the five characters of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo on all the people of Japan. And they reveal that he will face exile and execution. I am also like the envoy of Bodhisattva Superior Practices because I spread this teaching.

The “Supernatural Powers” chapter states, “As the light of the sun and moon can banish all obscurity and gloom, so this person as he advances through the world can wipe out the darkness of living beings.” In this passage from the sutra, in the five-character phrase “this person as he advances through the world,” to whom do you think “this person” refers? I believe that it must be the person who is the reincarnation of Bodhisattva Superior Practices. The sutra states, “After I have passed into extinction, [one] should accept and uphold this sutra. Such a person assuredly and without doubt will attain the Buddha way.”1

I am sure that you, too, are one who assists Bodhisattva Superior Practices in his propagation efforts.

Nichiren

The third day of the twelfth month in the second year of Kōan (1279), cyclical sign tsuchinoto-u

Reply to Uemon no Tayū

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Background

This letter was written at Minobu to Ikegami Uemon no Tayū Munenaka, the elder of the Ikegami brothers. Nichiren Daishonin indicates here that he is Bodhisattva Superior Practices, who, according to predictions made in the Lotus Sutra, will appear in the world in the Latter Day of the Law and propagate the Mystic Law. The sutra says that Bodhisattva Superior Practices “as he advances through the world can wipe out the darkness of living beings.” Also, the sutra predicts in the “Encouraging Devotion” chapter that Superior Practices will be subjected to persecutions such as exile and execution. “Exile” indicates the Daishonin’s banishment to Izu from 1261 to 1263, and to Sado Island from 1271 to 1274. “Execution” refers to the Tatsunokuchi Persecution in 1271, when the Daishonin was nearly beheaded.

In concluding, the Daishonin encourages Ikegami Munenaka in faith by praising him as one who is helping Bodhisattva Superior Practices spread the doctrine of the Lotus Sutra.

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Note

1. Lotus Sutra, chap. 21.

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