Letter to Shimoyama（2nd of 3rd paragraph）

2023.12.30

Letter to Shimoyama（2nd of 3rd paragraph）

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Later, in the reign of the fiftieth human sovereign, Emperor Kammu, a sage known as the Great Teacher Dengyō appeared. He first made a thorough study of the six schools of Buddhism in Japan, the Flower Garland, Three Treatises, Dharma Characteristics, Dharma Analysis Treasury, Establishment of Truth, and Precepts schools. Moreover, he investigated the arcane doctrines of the Bodhidharma school,7 and also made inquiry into the teachings of the T’ien-t’ai and True Word schools, which at that time had not yet been propagated in Japan. The purpose of these exhaustive studies was to determine the relative profundity and worth of these various doctrines.

In the twenty-first year of the Enryaku era [802], on the nineteenth day of the first month, Emperor Kammu visited the temple at Mount Takao, where he summoned Zengi, Gonzō, and others, fourteen men who were leaders of the seven major temples of Nara, the southern capital, and had them meet with the Great Teacher Dengyō to investigate and make clear the relative worth of the teachings of the six schools as they compared with those of the Lotus school. Each of these eminent scholars asserted that the doctrines of his particular school represented the highest point in the Buddha’s lifetime of teachings, but the Great Teacher Dengyō with a single word demolished all their arguments.

The emperor once more issued an order, commanding Wake no Hiroyo8 to act as his envoy and to reprimand the fourteen men. They in turn, the most outstanding scholars of the seven major temples and six schools, unanimously expressed their apologies in a memorial to the throne. In their memorial, the fourteen men stated: “From now on, all the beings in this world who are endowed with life will be able to embark on the ship of the wonderful and perfect truth and quickly reach the opposite shore.”

The Great Teacher Dengyō stated that he had forthwith cast aside the two hundred and fifty precepts.9 He also said, “The Former and Middle Days are almost over, and the Latter Day is near at hand.”10 And he said, “In the school of the single vehicle, none of the provisional teachings should be regarded as valid.”11 He said, “Do not place impure food in a jeweled vessel.”12 He said, “The great arhat who lived during the Buddha’s lifetime has already been scolded and told what to do. How then should the little mosquitoes and gadflies who live in the age after the Buddha’s passing presume to do otherwise?”13

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Background

One of Nichiren Daishonin’s ten major writings, Letter to Shimoyama is a petition to Shimoyama Hyōgo Gorō Mitsumoto, the steward of the district of Shimoyama near Mount Minobu in the province of Kai. The Daishonin wrote it on behalf of a priest named Inaba-bō Nichiei in the sixth month of 1277, while residing at Mount Minobu.

Inaba-bō Nichiei had been converted by Nikkō to the Daishonin’s teachings, and tried to convert Shimoyama Mitsumoto, who was Inaba-bō’s father (or, according to another account, his lord in the feudal system of the time). But Shimoyama, who was a believer in the Nembutsu, or Pure Land, teachings, furiously opposed the priest’s new-found faith. Hearing this, the Daishonin wrote a petition on behalf of Inaba-bō to persuade Shimoyama to discard the Pure Land teachings and take faith in the Lotus Sutra.

The petition explains the superiority of the Lotus Sutra to the Pure Land doctrines, and states that Inaba-bō’s conversion to the Lotus Sutra constitutes a distinguished act of loyalty to Shimoyama. Later, Shimoyama in fact gave up the Nembutsu and became a follower of the Daishonin’s teachings.

In the beginning paragraphs, the voice is that of Inaba-bō addressing his angry father or lord, Shimoyama. Inaba-bō explains that he has ceased reciting the Amida Sutra and instead taken up recitation of the Lotus Sutra because of an encounter with the Sage Nichiren. He says he went to Mount Minobu to listen to a lecture by the sage without the intention of taking faith. He writes very briefly of what he felt about the lecture.

The letter then outlines the Daishonin’s lecture from a third-party viewpoint. The lecture first introduces the five guides of propagation, the teaching, the time, the people’s capacity, the country, and the proper sequence of propagation. Then it describes the history of the spread of Buddhism in Japan. This begins with the Chinese priest Chien-chen (known in Japan as Ganjin), who brought the Hinayana precepts and T’ien-t’ai’s teachings to Japan but propagated only the former, which he thought were appropriate to the time. Later Dengyō appeared and studied T’ien-t’ai’s teachings and investigated thoroughly the doctrines of the six schools of Nara, demonstrating the superiority of the former over the latter. Dengyō also asserted that the Hinayana precepts should be abolished and replaced with the Mahayana precepts.

Next, the Daishonin describes the spread of Buddhism during the Former, Middle, and Latter Days of the Law. The Buddhist leaders in the first two periods knew the great Law of the Lotus Sutra but did not expound it because the time had not yet come for its propagation. As the Daishonin points out, the Latter Day is the time for the advent of Bodhisattva Superior Practices, who will spread the essence of the Lotus Sutra, which is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Then the Daishonin refutes the views of Ryōkan, who attempted to restore the Hinayana precepts and who urged the shogunate to put to death his rival, Nichiren Daishonin. Basing his view on the Lotus Sutra, the Daishonin regards Ryōkan as the third of the three powerful enemies and himself as the votary of the sutra. He also describes the other persecutions he experienced.

He points out the errors of the shogunate and the Buddhist schools it supported, the Pure Land, True Word, and Zen schools. Moreover, he describes how Dengyō’s teachings were distorted by his successors, Jikaku and Chishō, who incorporated True Word teachings into the Tendai school. In addition, he asserts that the Pure Land and Zen schools have turned the people away from the Lotus Sutra. As a result of these errors, the three calamities and seven disasters have occurred.

The Daishonin explains that he submitted his work On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land to Hōjō Tokiyori, the retired regent and de facto leader of the shogunate, to identify the basic cause for these calamities. Not only was his advice unheeded, however, but he was subjected to various persecutions. Finally, without carrying out a full investigation, the shogunate exiled him to Sado Island. Because the internal strife he had predicted took place, he was pardoned from exile and summoned to an interview with Hei no Saemon, a powerful official of the shogunate. Hei no Saemon asked him when the Mongols would attack Japan, referring to another of the Daishonin’s prophecies. The Daishonin replied that it would occur within the year and warned Hei no Saemon that mistaken Buddhist teachings should not be relied on for prayers to protect the nation. When his admonitions went unheeded, he retired to Mount Minobu. Thus at this time the country appeared to be on the verge of ruin.

At the end of the letter, the voice returns to that of Inaba-bō Nichiei. He says that the Sage Nichiren regretted the turn events had taken, expressing great pity for the people. He says he himself has written down here only a part of the lecture, and urges Shimoyama to take faith in the sage’s teachings. He expresses his conviction that, in discarding the Nembutsu and embracing the Lotus Sutra, he had the happiness of his parents in mind, and is therefore exercising the highest form of filial piety.

Notes

7. A reference to the Zen school, whose founder was Bodhidharma.

8. A court noble. In 802, he and his brother Matsuna sponsored a lecture by Dengyō at Takao-dera temple in Kyoto. Fourteen representatives of the six schools of Nara attended the lecture.

9. The Biography of the Great Teacher of Mount Hiei. Dengyō rejected the two hundred and fifty precepts of Hinayana, while embracing the bodhisattva precepts of Mahayana.

10. An Essay on the Protection of the Nation.

11. Ibid.

12. Ibid. “Impure food” here refers to the Hinayana teachings, and “jeweled vessel” to the Mahayana teachings.

13. A paraphrase of a passage in Essay on the Protection of the Nation. The “great arhat” here refers to Pūrna, one of Shakyamuni’s ten major disciples. He was chastised by Vimalakīrti, when he preached the Hinayana teachings to the monks who had sought out the Mahayana teachings.

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