Letter to Shimoyama（3rd of 4th paragraph）

2024.01.03

Letter to Shimoyama（3rd of 4th paragraph）

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Now the world has entered the age when the bodhisattva Superior Practices and the others of his group are destined to make their appearance. Even I with my untutored eyes can see the signs that this is about to occur.

If we examine the matter, we see that the sutras that the other schools rely on, such as the Flower Garland, Mahāvairochana, and Amida sutras, were intended to be propagated in the latter five hundred years of the thousand-year Former Day of the Law, or in the period of doctrinal controversy in the beginning of the Middle Day of the Law. Yet the Buddhist teachers, not only mistaking the relative profundity and worth of the various sutras but also forgetting the Buddha’s instructions regarding them, ignore the factors of time and capacity and unreasonably establish schools that recommend these sutras as the proper practice for the Middle and Latter Days of the Law. This is like planting seeds in an autumn field and hoping to reap grain in the dead of winter, like expecting to see a full moon when the moon is in its last quarter, or to see the sun shining at midnight.

Even more is this true of the Precepts school, which is purely Hinayana in nature. It represents a minor doctrine practiced in India in the first five hundred years of the thousand-year Former Day of the Law. It was introduced to Japan around the middle of the Middle Day of the Law, before the propagation of the Lotus Sutra teachings of the Tendai school, and was used for a time to develop the capacities of the people of the age. It is like the morning star that shines before sunrise, or the clouds that appear before a rainstorm. Of what use are the star or the clouds once the sun has risen or the rain fallen?

Now the time for such teachings has ended. Now that we have entered the Latter Day of the Law, to follow such practices is like applying a mild medicine to a severe ailment, or like loading a huge stone on a little boat. Persons who pursue such practices will exhaust themselves, spending much time and producing no results, bringing forth flowers but no fruit.

Therefore when the Great Teacher Dengyō appeared at the end of the Middle Day of the Law, he established an ordination platform on Mount Hiei for administering the precepts of perfect and immediate enlightenment, these precepts being one of the three disciplines, namely, precepts, meditation, and wisdom, of the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra. At that time he forthwith discarded the two hundred and fifty precepts. Accordingly, fourteen priests of the seven major temples of Nara that had heretofore followed the ordination practices established by Ganjin, as well as three hundred or more other persons, expressed their agreement and became followers of the Mahayana teachings. Thereafter the entire nation abandoned the Hinayana precepts. All this is perfectly clear if one examines the documents pertaining to the administering of the precepts.

———————————-～(to be continued to the next section)～————————

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

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