Nine Thoughts to One Word Chapter1
ON Mount Takatori, Mount Minobu, Mount Shichimen, in Iidani,1 under the trees, among the grass roots, on the peaks, down in the dirt, search where you may, nowhere will you find it growing—only in the sea does the seaweed grow. And only on the mountains are the mushrooms found. In like manner, the way to Buddhahood is found nowhere outside the Lotus Sutra. But I will say no more on this matter.
I was most delighted to hear that your lord, who in the past has treated you with enmity, has once more admitted you to the company of those in his service, and that you are called upon to serve him not for a mere day or two but without interruption. I cannot tell you how this pleases me.
Uemon no Tayū2 went against his father’s wishes, but as a result of a single word from above, he was pardoned and taken back into favor. You, on the other hand, have been viewed with enmity for a number of years now, and I heard that the situation last winter was very serious. Yet now you are called into the service of your lord day after day. What are we to make of this? Surely it is all due to the designs of the heavenly gods and the power of the Lotus Sutra, is it not?
The priest Enkyō-bō3 is here at the moment and reports that Ema no Shirō has twenty-four or twenty-five samurai in his service. Leaving aside the lord himself, one may note that, in imposing stature, in countenance, as well as in his mount and the subordinates attending him, no one can compare to Nakatsukasa Saemon-no-jō.4 The boys of Kamakura, gathering at the crossroads, all exclaim, “Ah, there’s a fine fellow, a fine fellow indeed!”
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Background
This letter was written on the twenty-fifth day of the first month in 1278. Shijō Kingo, because of his faith in Nichiren Daishonin’s teaching, had long suffered the disfavor of his lord, Ema. In this letter the Daishonin congratulates Kingo on the trust Ema has newly placed in him, and on what appears to be a positive turn of events. Citing a report from a priest who has observed Kingo taking a prominent position in his lord’s entourage, the Daishonin nevertheless expresses concern. In the previous year, some of Kingo’s colleagues had made false accusations against Kingo to Ema. Kingo’s coming into Ema’s favor again would surely arouse their jealousy, making them capable of any kind of treachery. For this reason, the Daishonin points out that he must now be extremely careful, attentive, and considerate, citing the example of Confucius thinking nine times before speaking a word, among others. The following year, 1279, an attempt on Kingo’s life was in fact made, against which he was able to protect himself. The Daishonin also cautions Shijō Kingo to be warm and charitable in his dealings with the women in his household, and to be supportive and considerate of his younger brothers. Without trust and unity among family members, it would be difficult to protect against the plotting of enemies.
Notes
1. Iidani was also called Iino, a village of Kai Province. Letter to Akimoto reads, “Let me describe this mountain. In Japan there are seven marches, and it is in the march called the Tōkaidō, which is made up of fifteen provinces. Within these is the province of Kai, where there are three village districts called Iino, Mimaki, and Hakiri, and it is in the one called Hakiri” (I, p. 1022).
2. Ikegami Uemon no Tayū Munenaka (d. 1293), the elder of the Ikegami brothers. See also p. 679.
3. Probably one of Nichiren Daishonin’s disciples, but little is known about him except that he lived in Kamakura. Lord Ema no Shirō, who appears subsequently, is Hōjō Chikatoki (see Ema in Glossary).
4. Shijō Kingo. His full name and title were Shijō Nakatsukasa Saburō Saemon-no-jō Yorimoto. Kingo is equivalent to the title Saemon-no-jō.