Condolences on a Deceased Husband Chapter3
I, Nichiren, am a man of the country of Japan in the southern continent of Jambudvīpa. This country is a small, faraway island nation situated in the midst of the ocean some two hundred thousand ri or more to the east of the country where the Buddha made his appearance in the world. Moreover, 2,227 years have gone by since the Buddha passed away. The people of India and China no doubt look upon the people of this country of Japan much as the people of Japan look upon the inhabitants of the island of Ōshima off the Izu Peninsula or the Ezo people who reside in the eastern part of Mutsu.4
I was born in Japan in the province of Awa. The son of commoner parents, I left my family, shaved my head, and put on clerical robes. At that time I was determined to make use of this present lifetime to plant the seeds of Buddhahood and to do what I could to remove myself from the realm of birth and death. My aims being the same as all other people of the time, I trusted in Amida Buddha, and from the time I was a child I recited his name. But as a result of some minor affair, I came to have doubts about the efficacy of this procedure. Therefore I conceived the following resolve.
I thought that I would try to acquaint myself with all the various Buddhist sutras that have been transmitted to Japan, as well as with the treatises of the bodhisattvas and the commentaries written by the teachers of the doctrine. I also considered that there are many different schools of Buddhism such as the Dharma Analysis Treasury, Establishment of Truth, Precepts, Dharma Characteristics, Three Treatises, Flower Garland, True Word, and Lotus Tendai schools,5 as well as the Zen and Pure Land schools. Though I could not acquaint myself with all the details of doctrine associated with each school, I felt that I would like to learn something of their essentials.
Therefore, for a period of some twenty years, from the time I was twelve or sixteen until I was thirty-two,6 I traveled from province to province, from temple to temple, visiting Kamakura, Kyoto, Mount Hiei, Onjō-ji, Mount Kōya, and Shitennō-ji and studying their doctrines. At that time I became aware of one very strange thing.
Background
Nichiren Daishonin, having received from the lay nun Myōhō an offering of an unlined robe, a gift from her elder brother’s wife, and a report about Jirō Hyōe’s recent death, sent this reply to the lay nun. It is dated the sixth day of the ninth month in 1278. The lay nun is thought to have lived in Okamiya in Suruga Province. Her husband had died of an illness in the seventh month of the same year.
The Daishonin begins this letter by expressing his appreciation for the offering and closes it by expressing sympathy for Jirō Hyōe’s wife. Concerning the robe given in offering, he cites the Buddhist story of the monk Shānavāsa, the third in the line of Shakyamuni Buddha’s twenty-three successors, who in a previous existence offered his robe to an ailing sage. Explaining the profound benefit that derived from this offering, the Daishonin speaks of the even greater benefit that will arise from offering a robe to him, the votary of the Lotus Sutra.
Next, he recalls major events of his life dedicated to spreading the Lotus Sutra, beginning with his resolve to grasp the essential doctrines of the various Buddhist schools. He realized that, though people believed any Buddhist teaching could save them from the sufferings of birth and death, “in fact if one approaches the Buddhist teachings and practices them incorrectly, then one is likely to fall into the great pit known as slander of the Law.” Though unaware of the negative consequences of such slander, they suffer them nonetheless.
The Daishonin then addresses the p.780source of this slander, the great support and respect given to the leaders of the Pure Land, True Word, and Zen schools. Because these schools slander the Lotus Sutra, which represents the enlightenment of Shakyamuni Buddha, belief in their teachings has brought about the three calamities and seven disasters. The Daishonin cites the prayers of the misguided True Word priests that resulted in the exile of the Retired Emperor of Oki, and expresses his belief that the same prayers conducted in his time will bring about the destruction of Japan by a neighboring country. Therefore he submitted a petition to the lay priest of Saimyō-ji, or Hōjō Tokiyori, entitled On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land. When his repeated remonstrations went unheeded, however, he left Kamakura to live in seclusion at Minobu.
The Daishonin describes the harsh conditions that beset him at Minobu, where this letter was written, as well as his situation of being estranged from both his home province and the land of his exile where he had gained followers.
He then compares himself with Bodhisattva Never Disparaging, who also spread the Lotus Sutra. While the Daishonin was wounded, condemned to exile, and nearly put to death, the bodhisattva was merely cursed and beaten. The people who persecuted him, the Daishonin says, are doomed to the hell of incessant suffering. In contrast, to have encountered the votary of the Lotus Sutra and presented him with offerings is a cause for great benefit.
Finally, concerning the death of Jirō Hyōe, apparently a Pure Land believer, the Daishonin expresses his sorrow and sympathy for the wife’s loss and endeavors to alleviate her grief.
Notes
4. Mutsu is the northern part of Japan. For Ezo people, see Glossary.
5. The Lotus Tendai school is another name for the Japanese Tendai school, which made the Lotus Sutra central to its doctrine.
6. In 1233 at the age of twelve, Nichiren Daishonin entered a nearby temple called Seichō-ji, where he studied both Buddhist and secular teachings, and at the age of sixteen, he was formally ordained. In 1253 at the age of thirty-two, he first chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and proclaimed his teachings.