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I HAVE placed your offerings of one sack of rice, parched rice, melons, eggplants, and other items before the Buddha.

As to the origin of the service for deceased ancestors,¹ among the disciples of the Buddha was one called the Venerable Maudgalyāyana. As the foremost in transcendental powers among the disciples, he ranked alongside Shāriputra, the foremost in wisdom. These two were like the sun and moon ranged side by side around Mount Sumeru, or like the ministers of the left and right who assist a great king.

Maudgalyāyana’s father was called Kissen Shishi, and his mother was called Shōdai-nyo.² His mother, because she was guilty of greed and stinginess, after her death was reborn in the realm of hungry spirits, but the Venerable Maudgalyāyana rescued her from there, and this began the tradition of the service.

It came about as follows. Though Maudgalyāyana’s mother had fallen into the realm of hungry spirits and was suffering there, Maudgalyāyana, being only a common mortal, had no way of knowing this. When he was a young boy, he entered the house of a teacher of Brahmanism and there made an exhaustive study of the four Vedas and the eighteen major scriptures, which constitute the complete sacred writings of Brahmanism. At this time, however, he still did not know where his mother had been reborn.

Later, at the age of thirteen, he and Shāriputra together visited Shakyamuni Buddha and became his disciples. Thereafter, Maudgalyāyana was able to free himself from the illusions of thought and to advance to the first stage of sagehood³ and then to cut off the illusions of desire and become an arhat, thereupon gaining the three insights and the six transcendental powers. Having opened the heavenly eye, he could see throughout the entire major world system as though it were reflected in a clear mirror. His vision penetrated the earth, and he could see into the three evil paths just as we, looking down through a layer of ice, see fish beneath the ice when the morning sun shines on it. And as he looked down, he saw that his mother was in the realm of hungry spirits.

She had nothing to drink, nothing to eat. Her skin was like that of a golden pheasant when its feathers have been plucked; her bones were like round stones placed one beside the other. Her head was big as a ball, her neck thin as a thread, and her stomach swelled like the sea. Her mouth open, her palms pressed together begging for something to eat, she resembled a starving leech that has caught the scent of a human. The sight of her famished form as she gazed at the son she had had in her previous existence and began to weep was beyond the power of analogy to describe. One can imagine how heartrending a scene this must have been for Maudgalyāyana.

The priest Shunkan, temple administrator of Hosshō-ji, was exiled to the island of Iōgashima. Naked, his hair hanging down unbound, his body wasted and thin, he wandered along the seashore where he picked up bits of seaweed and wrapped them about his loins or, spotting a fish, seized it with his right hand and gnawed it with his teeth. At that time a youth who had once been in the priest’s service came to the island to visit him.⁴ I wonder which was the more miserable sight, this priest or Maudgalyāyana’s mother? I venture to think that Maudgalyāyana’s mother was even more pitiful to look at than this priest.

The Venerable Maudgalyāyana was so overwhelmed with pity at the sight of his mother that he immediately employed his great transcendental powers and offered her some rice. His mother was delighted, and, seizing some of the rice in her right hand while concealing the remainder with her left, she stuffed the rice into her mouth. What should happen then but the rice changed into fire and began to burn! It burst into flame as though a bundle of torches had been lit, and his mother’s body crackled and burned.

When Maudgalyāyana saw this, he panicked and became utterly confused and, employing his transcendental powers, summoned forth a great flood of water. But the water turned into firewood, and his mother’s body only burned more fiercely, the sight of which filled him with even greater pity.

Maudgalyāyana, realizing that his own transcendental powers were altogether inadequate to remedy the situation, raced away and in an instant appeared in the presence of the Buddha, where he presented his tearful appeal.

“I was born into a family of believers of Brahmanism,” he said, “but later I became a disciple of the Buddha. I have gained the rank of arhat, freed myself from rebirth in the threefold world, and acquired the three insights and the six transcendental powers that go with the status of arhat. But now when I try to rescue my own mother from the great sufferings that beset her, I seem only to make her anguish worse than before, which fills my heart with grief!”

The Buddha replied: “Your mother has committed grave misdeeds. You alone do not have the power to remedy this situation. And indeed no one, neither the gods of heaven, the gods of earth, the devils, the Brahmanists, the Taoist priests, the four heavenly kings, nor the gods Shakra and Brahmā have the power to do so. Therefore, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you should bring together all the sage monks of the ten directions, prepare offerings of food and drink representing a hundred different flavors, and present them for the purpose of rescuing your mother from her sufferings.”

Maudgalyāyana did just as the Buddha had instructed him, and as a result his mother was freed from the realm of hungry spirits, where she had been destined to suffer for the period of a kalpa. So we are told in the scripture known as the Service for the Deceased Sutra. That is the reason why even now, in this latter age after the passing of the Buddha, people perform this ceremony on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. It is common practice for them to do so.

This writing is a letter (gosho) addressed to the grandmother of Jibu-bō Nichii, a disciple of Nichiren Daishonin. It was written in response to the offerings of rice, roasted rice, melons, and eggplants she made on July 13, just prior to the Urabon service (the Festival of the Dead), and expounds upon the origin of Urabon.

While it has traditionally been ascribed to the third year of Kenji (1277), recent scholarship suggests it was written in the second year of Kōan (1279). Another theory dates it to the third year of Kōan (1280). The original manuscript in the Daishonin’s own hand is preserved at Myokaku-ji temple in Kyoto.

The grandmother of Jibu-bō, the recipient of this letter, is believed to have been a practitioner residing in Ihara District of Suruga Province (present-day Shizuoka Prefecture). Regarding Jibu-bō, Nikkō Shōnin’s List of Disciples upon Whom Nikkō Bestowed the Gohonzon states, “Jibu-bō, a resident priest at Shijūku-in temple in Suruga Province, is a disciple of Renge-ajari.” From this, we understand that he was originally a resident priest of the Tendai sect at Shijūku-in temple, who later became a disciple of Renge-ajari Nichiji (one of the six senior disciples), making him a grand-disciple of Nikkō Shōnin. Following the passing of the Daishonin, Jibu-bō was initially included among those responsible for guarding the Daishonin’s tomb by rotation. However, as the same list records, “He turned against [Nikkō Shōnin] after the Saint’s passing,” it appears that he ultimately sided with the five senior priests and opposed Nikkō Shōnin.

It is assumed that his grandmother took faith under the guidance of Jibu-bō after he became Nichiji’s disciple at Shijūku-in, though the exact details remain unclear.

The content of this letter begins by quoting the Urabon Sutra to describe the origin of the Urabon service. The Daishonin reveals that despite possessing great transcendental powers, Maudgalyāyana (Mokuren) was initially unable to save his mother from her torments after she fell into the realm of Hungry Spirits (gakidō). He then explains that through the Lotus Sutra, Maudgalyāyana not only attained Buddhahood himself but was also able to lead his parents to Buddhahood. Furthermore, the Daishonin cites the historical example of Taira no Kiyomori, whose great evil brought immense suffering upon his descendants, contrasting it with the principle that the great good of embracing the Lotus Sutra can lead parents and descendants across countless generations to the attainment of Buddhahood.

Finally, the Daishonin encourages Jibu-bō’s grandmother, assuring her that because she raised her grandson to become a practitioner of the Lotus Sutra, she will without fail be guided to the attainment of Buddhahood.

On the Origin of Urabon

The Buddhist event held annually on July 15 (or August 15 in some regions, a month later according to the lunar calendar) to offer prayers for the repose of ancestors is called Urabon (the Obon Festival). In this letter, the Daishonin draws upon the meaning of the Urabon Sutra to explain its origins in detail.

The word “Urabon” is a transliteration of the Sanskrit ullambana, which translates to “hanging upside down,” symbolizing the agonizing torment of being suspended in reverse. It was used because the agonizing hunger and thirst experienced in the realm of Hungry Spirits resemble this suffering. The Chinese character bon , meaning a tray or vessel, refers to the container used to rescue them from this torment. In other words, the Urabon ritual involves placing one hundred kinds of food and drink on a tray as an offering to the Buddha through the assembled monks, thereby alleviating the suffering of those trapped in the realm of Hungry Spirits and guiding them toward Buddhahood.

The origin of this ritual lies in the story of Maudgalyāyana, one of the ten foremost disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, who was renowned as foremost in transcendental powers. Following the Buddha’s guidance, he succeeded in rescuing his deceased mother, Shōdai-nyo , from the sufferings of the realm of Hungry Spirits.

Maudgalyāyana had lost his mother when he was young, and due to her sin of greed and stinginess (kendon), she had fallen into the realm of Hungry Spirits. “Greed and stinginess” refers to being deeply covetous, hoarding wealth, and refusing to give to others. The fourth volume of The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra (Hokke Mongu) identifies this sin as the direct cause for falling into the realm of Hungry Spirits.

Maudgalyāyana initially practiced Brahmanism, but later became a disciple of Shakyamuni. Through his dedicated Buddhist practice, he attained the stage of Arhatship and acquired transcendental abilities known as the “three insights and six transcendental powers” (sanmyō-rokutsū). It was through these powers that he became aware of his mother’s agonizing state in the realm of Hungry Spirits. Her appearance was described as follows: “She had nothing to drink and nothing to eat. Her skin was like plucked felt, and her bones were like a row of round stones. Her head was as large as a ball, her neck as thin as a thread, and her belly as vast as the ocean. She opened her mouth and pressed her palms together to beg for food, looking like a starved leech scenting human flesh.”

The Daishonin writes that Maudgalyāyana’s grief upon witnessing his mother in this state must have far surpassed the sorrow of the young boy who witnessed the wretched condition of Shunkan when he was exiled to Kikai-gashima Island.

Shunkan was a Tendai monk of the late Heian period who served as the administrator of Hosshō-ji temple. Trusted by Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa, he conspired with Fujiwara no Naritsune, Taira no Yasuyori, and others at a villa in Shishigatani to overthrow Taira no Kiyomori. The plot was discovered, and in the first year of Jisho (1177), he was captured and exiled along with Naritsune and Yasuyori to Kikai-gashima Island (Iōjima Island) south of Kyushu. The following year, a special amnesty was granted to pray for the safe delivery of Kiyomori’s daughter, Empress Consort Tokuko. While the other two men were pardoned, Shunkan was left behind alone, likely because he was viewed as the mastermind. It is recorded that he died on the island in the third year of Jisho. Shunkan, left behind on the island bearing deep resentment, lived out his final days in a state of misery that perfectly mirrored the realm of Hungry Spirits.

Maudgalyāyana attempted to use his transcendental powers to send food and water to his mother, but this only increased her torment. Grieving deeply, he sought guidance from Shakyamuni Buddha. The Buddha instructed him: “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, assemble the monks of the ten directions, prepare one hundred kinds of exquisite food and drink, and offer them to relieve your mother’s suffering.” When Maudgalyāyana followed these instructions, his mother was finally freed from the agonies of the realm of Hungry Spirits.

According to the Urabon Sutra translated by Dharmarakṣa (Jiku Hōgo) during the Western Jin dynasty, Maudgalyāyana later made a vow, saying, “I pray that all future disciples of the Buddha who practice filial piety may also use this Urabon service to save their parents of this life, and even back to seven generations of parents.” Shakyamuni Buddha warmly encouraged the practice, replying, “This is exactly what I desire.”

The actual Urabon service is said to have been performed for the first time in China at Tongtai-ji temple in the fourth year of Datong (538) during the Liang dynasty, and it spread widely during the Tang dynasty. In Japan, it is recorded to have been held for the first time at Asuka-dera temple in the third year of the reign of Empress Saimei (657). Later, offerings came to be made within the imperial court, and the practice eventually evolved into a traditional annual event among the common people.

Furthermore, the reason the Urabon service came to be held on July 15 stems from the practice of ango (rainy season retreat) in India. During the three months of the summer rainy season, monks would confine themselves to a single location to focus entirely on their studies and practice to avoid harming insects or stepping on newborn plants. The Urabon service originated from the custom of making offerings to the assembled monks upon the completion of this retreat.

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I, Nichiren, would like to note the following. The Venerable Maudgalyāyana was, among the Ten Worlds, one who belonged to that of the voice-hearer. His observance of the two hundred and fifty precepts was as firm as a rock, and his attention to the three thousand rules of conduct, without a single exception, was as perfect as the full moon on the night of the fifteenth. His wisdom was like the sun, and his transcendental powers enabled him to encircle Mount Sumeru fourteen times⁵ and thereby move the huge mountain.

And yet, even though he was a sage of this order, he found it very difficult to repay the great debt of kindness he owed his mother. Moreover, when he attempted to repay it, he actually increased her already great suffering.

In comparison, the priests of today observe the two hundred and fifty precepts in name only and, in fact, use their so-called observance of the precepts as a means to dupe others. They have not a trace of transcendental power—a huge stone could sooner ascend to heaven than they could exercise such powers. Their wisdom is in a class with that of oxen, no different from that of sheep. Though they might gather together by the thousands or ten thousands, they could never relieve one iota of the sufferings of departed parents.

All things considered, the reason the Venerable Maudgalyāyana could not rescue his own mother from suffering was that he put his faith in the Hinayana version of Buddhism and devoted himself to the observance of the two hundred and fifty precepts. According to the Vimalakīrti Sutra, the layman called Vimalakīrti criticized Maudgalyāyana, saying, “Those who give alms to you will fall into the three evil paths.” The meaning of this passage is that those who make offerings to the Venerable Maudgalyāyana, a worthy man who observes the two hundred and fifty precepts, will be reborn in one of the three evil paths. And this does not apply to Maudgalyāyana alone, but to all the voice-hearers and to those in this latter age who place great emphasis upon the observance of the precepts.

In comparison to the Lotus Sutra, this Vimalakīrti Sutra I have just mentioned is no more than a lowly servant far down in the ranks of retainers. The point is that the Venerable Maudgalyāyana had not yet attained Buddhahood himself. Since he himself had not yet attained Buddhahood, it was very difficult for him to relieve the sufferings of his parents. And how much more difficult would it have been for him to do so for anyone else!

The Impossibility of Saving Others While Not Yet Attaining Buddhahood Oneself

After expounding upon the origin of Urabon, the Daishonin reveals the reason why Maudgalyāyana was initially unable to save his mother from her suffering.

Even though Maudgalyāyana strictly observed the two hundred and fifty precepts, maintained the three thousand rules of conduct, excelled in wisdom, and possessed great transcendental powers, his realization amounted to nothing more than the temporary awakening of the Hinayana teachings. As the Daishonin declares, “In the end, the reason is that Maudgalyāyana himself had not yet attained Buddhahood. If one has not attained Buddhahood oneself, it is difficult to save even one’s own parents.” Thus, without attaining Buddhahood oneself, it is impossible to save one’s parents, let alone others.

This principle is also expounded in Shijō Kingo-dono Gofuku-sho (On the Offerings of Shijō Kingo): “Now, the Urabon service originates from the story of Maudgalyāyana saving his mother, Shōdai-nyo, who had fallen into the realm of Hungry Spirits for five hundred lifetimes due to her karmic offense of greed and stinginess. However, he could not lead her to Buddhahood. This was because he himself was not yet a practitioner of the Lotus Sutra, and therefore, he could not enable his mother to attain Buddhahood either.”

The Essence of Hinayana Teachings and Its Refutation by Mahayana

The Hinayana teachings from which Maudgalyāyana obtained his initial enlightenment were taught for those who sought only their own personal awakening. Because this doctrine was intended to transport those of dull capacity to a lesser reward, it was termed “Hinayana” (the Lesser Vehicle). It expounds the truths of the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve-Linked Chain of Causation, aiming to completely eradicate earthly desires, reduce the body to ashes, annihilate consciousness (keshin-metchi), and enter the Nirvana of no remainder (muyo-nehan). In contrast, the Mahayana (Great Vehicle) teachings expound the Bodhisattva way, which fulfills both self-benefit (jiri) and altruism (rita).

For this reason, various Mahayana sutras harshly rebuke the voice-hearers (shōmon) and cause-awakened ones (engaku) of the two vehicles. For instance, the Vimalakirti Sutra states that those of the two vehicles have entered a lower enlightenment and are eternally incapable of attaining Buddhahood, and therefore, one must not make offerings to them. Furthermore, The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom (大智度論, Daichido Ron) refutes Hinayana as a narrow and inferior teaching of mere self-benefit. Consequently, adherence to it prevents one from attaining Buddhahood, rendering one utterly incapable of saving one’s parents.

Regarding this point, the Daishonin states in Kaimoku-shō (The Opening of the Eyes): “Shāriputra, Mahākāshyapya, and the others of the two vehicles strictly observed the two hundred and fifty precepts and the three thousand rules of conduct. They mastered the three types of meditation—the savory, the pure, and the undefiled—comprehended the Agama sutras, and completely eradicated the earthly desires of the threefold world. They ought to be exemplars of those who know and repay their debts of gratitude. Yet, the World-Honored One designated them as people who do not know gratitude. This is because the purpose of leaving one’s parental home to enter the priesthood is always to save one’s parents. Although those of the two vehicles believe they have achieved liberation for themselves, they lack the practice of altruism. Even if they possess some measure of altruistic practice, by relegating their parents and others to the path of eternal non-attainment of Buddhahood, they instead become people who do not know gratitude.”

By seeking only personal awakening and failing to aim for altruism, the Hinayana teachings prevent one from attaining Buddhahood and relegate one’s parents to the path of eternal non-attainment of Buddhahood, thereby constituting a failure to repay gratitude.

Refuting Corrupt Priests and Exposing the True Nature of Ryokan of Gokuraku-ji

The Daishonin emphasizes that if even a saint of Maudgalyāyana’s stature could not repay his mother’s debt of gratitude and instead inadvertently increased her torment when trying to save her, then the corrupt priests of the day—who hold precepts in name only to deceive the public, and who possess a wisdom no greater than that of cattle or sheep—could never alleviate even a single suffering of one’s parents, even if ten million of them were to gather.

During the Daishonin’s lifetime, Ryōkan of Gokuraku-ji temple, a priest of the Shingon-Ritsu sect, ostentatiously advertised his own strict adherence to the precepts. However, as the Daishonin points out in Shōgu Mondō-shō (The Conversation between a Sage and an Ignorant Man): “When observing the conduct of the contemporary Ritsu priests, they hoard cloth and treasures, and make a business of loaning money for interest. Their practices already contradict their own teachings; who then could faithfully accept what they preach?” In reality, they colluded with the military government (the bakufu) to build roads and bridges for the purpose of collecting toll taxes, and seized customs duties at ports. Their deeds were fraught with malicious acts that violated the precepts, deceived society, and oppressed the people. Not limited to the Ritsu priests, no matter how many priests of various sects that oppose the Lotus Sutra gather to pray, far from saving anyone’s parents, they will only intensify their immense suffering.

Maudgalyayana’s Enlightenment and the Simultaneous Attainment of Buddhahood by Parent and Child

Next, the Daishonin explains that although Maudgalyāyana was initially unable to save his mother from the realm of Hungry Spirits, his parents also attained Buddhahood at the exact moment he achieved Buddhahood through the Lotus Sutra. Conversely, he cites the historical example of Taira no Kiyomori, whose grave offenses plunged both himself and his children into immense suffering. The Daishonin thus clarifies that the evil karma of slandering the Law (hōbō) brings suffering upon one’s descendants even to the seventh generation, while the great good of embracing the Lotus Sutra enables parents and descendants across countless generations to attain Buddhahood.

In the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings (nizen-kyō), those of the two vehicles, such as Maudgalyāyana, were shunned as being eternally incapable of attaining Buddhahood. However, upon the preaching of the Lotus Sutra, their enlightenment was finally permitted. In the “Introduction to Mandates” (Juki-hon) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Maudgalyāyana receives a prophecy of enlightenment: “He will surely attain Buddhahood, and his name will be Tamalapatra Sandalwood Fragrance Tathagata… His kalpa will be named Joyful Fulfilment, and his land will be named Delightful… The lifespan of this Buddha will be twenty-four minor kalpas. His Correct Law will abide in the world for forty minor kalpas, and his Counterfeit Law will also abide for forty minor kalpas.”

When Maudgalyāyana attained Buddhahood, his parents simultaneously achieved Buddhahood as well. The reason for this is described as follows: “Maudgalyāyana’s physical body (shikishin) is the remains left behind by his parents. Since Maudgalyāyana’s physical body became a Buddha, the bodies of his parents likewise became Buddhas.” Because a child’s flesh and blood is the physical form given and raised by their parents, if the child’s body achieves Buddhahood, it is impossible for the bodies of the parents—the very source of that form—not to attain Buddhahood as well.

This simultaneous enlightenment of father and child is also expounded in Jōren-bō Gofuku-sho (On the Offerings of Jōren-bō): “Maudgalyāyana rescued his loving mother from the suffering of the realm of Hungry Spirits, and Jñānendra and Jñānagarbha (Jōzō and Jōgen) converted their loving father from his distorted views. The remains left behind by parents constitute the physical and spiritual being (shikishin) of the child. The benefit gained by Jōren-shōnin from embracing the Lotus Sutra is identical to the power of his loving father… How could the Lotus Sutra embraced by Jōren-shōnin fail to become the benefit and virtue for the deceased spirit of his late father?”

Furthermore, in Hōren-shō (On the Hōren Sutra), it is stated: “The Lotus Sutra possesses the function to lead all living beings to Buddhahood. Among the living beings of the six paths and four forms of birth, there are men and women, and these men and women were all our parents in past existences. If even one person is left behind, one cannot achieve Buddhahood oneself. Therefore, those of the two vehicles were designated as people who do not know gratitude and were taught to be eternally incapable of attaining Buddhahood, because their spirit of filial piety was not all-encompassing. The Buddha awakened to the Lotus Sutra and thereby embodied the benefit of filial piety toward the parents of the six paths and four forms of birth. The Buddha bestows this benefit upon those who believe in the Lotus Sutra.” The Daishonin thus teaches that the Lotus Sutra, which enables all living beings to attain Buddhahood, is the supreme sutra of filial piety.

The Historical Account of Taira no Kiyomori and the Great Evil of Slandering the Law

The reason the Daishonin invokes the historical account of Taira no Kiyomori immediately after explaining the simultaneous enlightenment of parent and child is to provide a historical illustration: just as a parent’s evil deeds cause their children to fall into great suffering, the great good root of embracing the Lotus Sutra conversely enables parents and descendants of countless lifetimes to attain Buddhahood.

It was on December 23 in the fourth year of Jisho (1180) that Taira no Kiyomori decided to subjugate the seven great temples of Nanto (Nara). This decision was prompted by the fact that the warrior-monks of Nanto had clearly sided with the Minamoto (Genji) clan to overthrow the Taira (Heike) clan. Led by Taira no Shigehira as the grand general, the massive Taira army invaded Nara from two directions—the Kawachi road and the Yamashiro road—and the decisive battle took place on the 28th. Kōfuku-ji temple resisted with an army of sixty thousand warrior-monks but was defeated. The halls and pagodas of both Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji temples were completely reduced to ashes by fires set by the Taira forces. This incident proved to be a turning point, as the Taira clan completely alienated the influential temples and the court aristocracy, thereby accelerating their own downfall.

Kiyomori died the following year on March 4 during the intercalary month of the first year of Yōwa (1181). Contemporary records describe his death as “feverish agony and suffocation,” which the Daishonin vividly characterizes by stating, “He died of intense heat.”

Munemori, the second son who succeeded Kiyomori as the head of the Taira clan, led the family out of the capital to rebuild their military forces in the western provinces. However, they were repeatedly defeated by the Minamoto army at Ichino-tani and Yashima. When the clan was finally destroyed at the Battle of Dan-no-ura on March 24 in the fourth year of Juei (1185), Munemori, along with Tokitada and Kiyomune, was captured alive. Although he was sent to Kamakura, he was ordered back to Kyoto and was ultimately executed by Minamoto no Yoshitsune at Shinohara in Ōmi Province, and his severed head was put on public display.

Tomomori, the third son, committed suicide by drowning at Dan-no-ura. Shigehira, the fourth son, was captured upon his defeat at the Battle of Ichino-tani. Following the downfall of the Taira clan, he was transferred to Nara in the first year of Bunji (1185) and was beheaded at the Kizu River on June 23. It is said that the monks of Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji exposed his head at Narazaka.

The Daishonin cites these historical facts to convey the following instruction: “The greatest of all great evils does not merely bring suffering upon oneself; it extends to one’s children, grandchildren, and descendants down to the seventh generation.”

At that time, the world had already entered the Latter Day of the Law, and some might argue that Kiyomori’s burning of Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji temples and his opposition to Enryaku-ji temple on Mount Hiei did not constitute a slander of the Law. However, as the Daishonin notes, saying, “He held the gods and Buddhas in contempt and sought to grasp the deities and priests in his own hands,” his overwhelming arrogance in attempting to subjugate the Buddhist Law itself under his secular power constituted a monumentally evil karma.

“The greatest of all great evils” does not refer to mundane, secular crimes, but rather to an offense within the Buddhist Law—namely, the great evil karma of slandering the Correct Law.

In Ken Hōbō-shō (Clarifying Slander of the Law), it is stated: “Slander of the Law means to turn one’s back on the Law… If one opposes the Law, how can it not be slander? And if it is slander, how can it fail to bring about painful retributions?” Furthermore, as stated in Nishiyama-dono Go-返事 (Reply to Lord Nishiyama): “The human heart shifts easily and is dyed by good or evil. If one is stained by the evil of the Shingon, Zen, or Nembutsu sects, one will inevitably fall into hell. If one is dyed by the Lotus Sutra, one will surely become a Buddha.” Embracing erroneous teachings and doctrines that oppose the Correct Law contaminates one’s life and causes the suffering of hell. Moreover, this suffering is not confined to oneself alone; it extends to one’s wife, children, relatives, and descendants down to the seventh generation. Truly, the evil karma of slandering the Law is something to be profoundly dreaded.

Therefore, as stated in the golden words, “If you seek to attain Buddhahood without refuting slander of the Law, it is like seeking water within a fire or searching for fire within water,” the practice of shakubuku—harshly rebuking errors that oppose the Correct Law—is of paramount importance.

The Salvation of Countless Lifetimes through Great Good and the True Meaning of Urabon

“The greatest of all great goods” operates under the exact same spiritual equation. The great good of Maudgalyāyana believing in the Lotus Sutra did not merely enable him to achieve Buddhahood himself; it also enabled his parents to attain Buddhahood, and furthermore, allowed “the parents of seven generations above, seven generations below, and across countless past and future lifetimes” to all achieve Buddhahood.

In essence, what is essential is for oneself to attain Buddhahood, and transferring the benefit of that enlightenment (ekō) constitutes the true Urabon service. Furthermore, in the contemporary era of the Latter Day of the Law, it is not the Lotus Sutra of Shakyamuni, but rather Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of the Three Great Secret Laws taught by Nichiren Daishonin that stands as the sole Correct Law through which all living beings can achieve Buddhahood. When one chants the Daimoku to the Gohonzon, one achieves the fusion of objective reality and subjective wisdom (kyōchi-myōgā), entering the life-state of Buddhahood. Through that immense benefit, one’s ancestors are naturally able to attain Buddhahood.

Therefore, under the concept of “eternal Urabon and eternal equinox” (jōbon-jōhigan), the true meaning of the practice is to understand that every single day is the Obon festival and the equinox, and to offer memorial prayers for the repose of ancestors during morning and evening gongyo. Nonetheless, the reason for conducting the Urabon ceremony specifically on July 15 is to utilize this occasion to renew one’s faith and resolve, while simultaneously teaching the true meaning of Obon to those who perform the Urabon service based on erroneous teachings, thereby reforming their understanding of what it truly means to attain Buddhahood.

In conclusion, Daishonin concludes this letter by encouraging the grandmother that because she raised her grandson, Jibu-bo, to be a practitioner of the Lotus Sutra, she will definitely be led to the attainment of Buddhahood.

He states that although Jibu-bo may lack the precepts and be inferior in wisdom compared to Maudgalyayana (Mokuren), because he believes in and looks up to Shakyamuni Buddha and the Lotus Sutra, through that benefit, he will surely ascend the mountain of Buddhahood and soar through the sky of the Land of Tranquil Light. Furthermore, the Daishonin states that Jibu-bo is a priest who can transfer such benefit not only to his parents and grandparents but also down to the descendants of the seventh generation.

Attaining Buddhahood is not achieved through one’s own power or practices, but rather through the immense power of the Mystic Law. Here, when he writes, “The one he looks up to is Shakyamuni Buddha, and the Law he believes in is the Lotus Sutra,” it signifies the Shakyamuni and the Lotus Sutra of the Latter Day of the Law. This refers to Nichiren Daishonin, the True Buddha who is Shakyamuni from the viewpoint of the implicit meaning of the text (montei), and Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of the Three Great Secret Laws, which is the Lotus Sutra of the Latter Day.

The sole direct path to attaining Buddhahood in the Latter Day of the Law lies entirely in believing in the Gohonzon of the oneness of person and Law (ninpo-ikka) and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Moreover, that benefit simultaneously becomes a memorial offering (eko) for ancestors of the past and is left behind as good fortune for future descendants.

The Daishonin concludes this letter by encouraging her that the grandmother, who has a grandson that embraced this great Mystic Law, is a woman possessing a wonderful treasure. Just as the dragon king’s daughter offered her jewel to the Buddha and attained Buddhahood, there is no doubt that she will be led to Buddhahood by virtue of having made her grandson a practitioner of the Lotus Sutra.