On Repaying Debts of Gratitude

Nichiren

Chapter16(Refuting the Great Teacher Jikaku and the Great Teacher Chishō)

Main Text

These two men, Jikaku and Chishō, as we have seen, were disciples of Dengyō and Gishin, and in addition they journeyed to China and met eminent teachers of the T’ien-t’ai and True Word schools there. And yet it appears that they could not make up their minds as to the relative merit of these two schools. Sometimes they declared that the True Word is superior, sometimes that the Lotus is superior, and sometimes they said that the two are equal in terms of principle, but that the True Word is superior in terms of practice. Meanwhile, an edict warned that anyone attempting to argue the relative merit of the two schools would be judged guilty of violating the imperial decree.

These pronouncements of Jikaku and Chishō were clearly inconsistent, and it would appear that the followers of the other schools placed no trust in them whatsoever. Nevertheless, an imperial edict, as we have seen, states that the two schools are equal, putting this forward as the doctrine of the Tendai patriarch, the Great Teacher Dengyō. But in what work of the Great Teacher Dengyō is this view to be found? This is something that must be looked into carefully.

For me, Nichiren, to be challenging Jikaku and Chishō because of doubts over a matter pertaining to the Great Teacher Dengyō is like a person confronting his parents and arguing with them over who is older, or a person confronting the god of the sun and claiming that his own eyes shine more brilliantly. Nevertheless, those who would defend the views of Jikaku and Chishō must produce some sort of clear scriptural evidence to support their case. Only if they do so can they hope to gain credence for such views.

The Tripitaka Master Hsüan-tsang had been to India and seen a copy of The Great Commentary on the Abhidharma there, but that did not prevent him from being criticized by the Dharma Teacher Fa-pao, who had never been to India. The Tripitaka Master Dharmaraksha saw a copy of the Lotus Sutra in India, but that did not prevent a man of China⁴⁷ from pointing out that the “Entrustment” chapter was out of place in the translation he made of it, though that man had never seen the original text.

In like manner, though Jikaku may have studied under the Great Teacher Dengyō and received instruction from him, and though Chishō may have obtained the oral transmission from the Reverend Gishin, if they go against the teachings recorded in the authentic writings of Dengyō and Gishin, then how can they help but incur suspicion?

Clarification of the Schools by the Great Teacher Dengyō is the most secret of his writings. In the preface to that work, he writes: “The True Word school of Buddhism that has recently been brought to Japan deliberately obscures how its transmission was falsified in the recording [by I-hsing, who was deceived by Shan-wu-wei],⁴⁸ while the Flower Garland school that was introduced earlier attempts to disguise the fact that it was influenced by the doctrines of T’ien-t’ai.⁴⁹ The Three Treatises school, which is so infatuated with the concept of emptiness, has forgotten Chia-hsiang’s humiliation,⁵⁰ and conceals the fact that he was completely won over to the T’ien-t’ai teachings by Chang-an. The Dharma Characteristics school, which clings to the concept of being,⁵¹ denies that its leader Chih-chou was converted to the teachings of the T’ien-t’ai school, and that Liang-pi used those teachings in interpreting the Benevolent Kings Sutra.⁵² . . . Now with all due circumspection I have written Clarification of the Schools in one volume to present to wise men of later times who share my convictions. The time is the reign of the fifty-second sovereign of Japan, the seventh year of the Kōnin era (816), the year hinoe-saru.”⁵³

Farther on, in the main text of the same work, it reads, “There was an eminent monk in India who had heard that the teachings of the priest T’ien-t’ai of T’ang China were most suitable for distinguishing correct from incorrect doctrines, and expressed a longing to become better acquainted with them.”

It continues, “Does this not mean that Buddhism has been lost in India, the country of its origin, and must now be sought in the surrounding regions? But even in China there are few people who recognize the greatness of T’ien-t’ai’s teachings. They are like the people of Lu.”⁵⁴

This work, as may be seen from these quotations, criticizes the Dharma Characteristics, Three Treatises, Flower Garland, and True Word schools. Now if the Great Teacher Dengyō believed that the Tendai and True Word schools are of equal worth, then why would he criticize the latter? Furthermore, he compares the Tripitaka Master Pu-k’ung and others to the ignorant people of the state of Lu. If he really approved of the True Word teachings as formulated by Shan-wu-wei, Chin-kang-chih, and Pu-k’ung, then why would he speak ill of these men by comparing them to the people of Lu? And if the True Word teachings of India were identical with or superior to the teachings of the T’ien-t’ai school, then why did the eminent monk of India question Pu-k’ung about them and say that the correct teaching had been lost in India?

Be that as it may, these two men, Jikaku and Chishō, in words claimed to be the disciples of the Great Teacher Dengyō, but at heart they were not. That is why Dengyō wrote in the preface to his work, “Now with all due circumspection I have written Clarification of the Schools in one volume to present to wise men of later times who share my convictions.” The words “who share my convictions” mean in effect “those who share my conviction that the True Word school is inferior to the Tendai school.”

In the edict quoted earlier, which Chishō himself had requested, it says that they “do nothing but turn against the teachings of the patriarch [Dengyō] and instead follow the prejudices and inclinations of their own hearts.” It also states, “On the path inherited from the master, one cannot neglect either the concentration and insight or the True Word teachings.” But if we are to accept the words of the edict, we would have to say that Jikaku and Chishō themselves are the ones who have turned against their teacher Dengyō. It may be impertinent that I make charges of this kind, but if I do not do so, then the relative merit of the Mahāvairochana and Lotus sutras will continue to be misunderstood as it is at present. That is why I risk my life to bring these charges.

[Since they themselves were mistaken,] it is altogether natural that these two men, Jikaku and Chishō, did not venture to accuse the Great Teacher Kōbō of doctrinal error. Instead of wasting all those supplies and making work for other people by insisting upon traveling all the way to China, they should have made a more careful and thorough study of the doctrines of the Great Teacher Dengyō, who was their own teacher!

It was only in the time of the first three leaders of the Tendai school, the Great Teacher Dengyō, the Reverend Gishin, and the Great Teacher Enchō, that the correct doctrine was taught on Mount Hiei. Thereafter the chief priests of the Tendai school were transformed into True Word leaders. The area continued to be called a Tendai Mountain, but was presided over by a True Word master.

The great teachers Jikaku and Chishō, as we have seen, contradict the passage in the Lotus Sutra concerning all the sutras that the Buddha “has preached, now preaches, and will preach.”⁵⁵ And having contradicted that passage of the scripture, are they not to be regarded as the archenemies of Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the Buddhas of the ten directions? One might have thought that the Great Teacher Kōbō was the foremost slanderer of the Law, but Jikaku and Chishō taught errors that far surpass those of Kōbō.

When an error is as far from the truth as water is from fire or the earth from the sky, people will refuse to believe it, and such errors will have no chance of acceptance. Thus, for example, the doctrines of the Great Teacher Kōbō are so full of such errors that even his own disciples would not accept them. As for the practices and ceremonies of the school, they accepted his instructions, but they could not bring themselves to accept his doctrines concerning the relative merits of the sutras. Therefore, they substituted for them the doctrines of Shan-wu-wei, Chin-kang-chih, Pu-k’ung, Jikaku, and Chishō. It is the doctrine of Jikaku and Chishō that declares the True Word and Tendai schools to be identical in principle, and all the people have accepted that declaration.

Recognizing this situation, even followers of the Tendai school, hoping to be asked to perform the eye-opening ceremony for the consecration of painted or wooden Buddhist images, adopt the mudras and mantras in which the True Word school is believed to excel. Thus in effect the whole of Japan goes over to the True Word school, and the Tendai school is left without a single follower.

A monk and a nun, a black object and a dark blue object, are so easily confused that a person with poor eyesight might well mistake one for the other. But a priest and a layman, or a white object and a red object, even a person with poor eyesight would never confuse, much less someone with good eyes. Now the doctrines of Jikaku and Chishō are as easy to mistake for the truth as a monk is for a nun, or a black object for a dark blue one. Therefore, even wise men are led astray, and the ignorant fall into error. As a result, for the past four hundred and more years, on Mount Hiei, at Onjō-ji and Tō-ji, in Nara, the five provinces surrounding the capital, the seven outlying regions,⁵⁶ and indeed throughout the whole land of Japan, all the people have been turned into slanderers of the Law.

 

Notes

47. “A man of China” refers to Miao-lo, who stated in his Annotations on “The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra” that Kumārajīva’s placement of the “Entrustment” chapter is correct.

48. In The Annotations on the Mahāvairochana Sutra given by Shan-wu-wei, the founder of the esoteric True Word school in China, I-hsing appropriated the T’ien-t’ai doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life and interpreted it as p.742belonging to the True Word teachings.

49. Fa-tsang established a classification of the Buddhist sutras, dividing them into five groups according to their level of teaching: the Hinayana teaching, the elementary Mahayana teaching, the final Mahayana teaching, the sudden teaching, and the perfect teaching. This system of the five teachings was modeled on T’ien-t’ai’s classification of the five periods.

50. While giving a lecture, Chia-hsiang was criticized by Fa-sheng, a seventeen-year-old student of the T’ien-t’ai school.

51. The Dharma Characteristics doctrine maintains that all dharmas, or phenomena, arise from the ālaya-consciousness and have actual existence. Being preoccupied with the characteristics of the dharmas, among the three truths, it emphasizes only temporary existence.

52. Chih-chou (678–733) was the third patriarch of the Dharma Characteristics school, who lived in P’u-yang and wrote a commentary on the Brahmā Net Sutra on the basis of T’ien-t’ai’s teachings. Liang-pi of Ch’ing-lung-ssu temple interpreted the Benevolent Kings Sutra, the concluding sutra to the Wisdom sutras, following T’ien-t’ai’s Annotations on the sutra.

53. The wording of the Japanese text has been expanded here.

54. This is actually Miao-lo’s remark from his On “The Words and Phrases,” which Dengyō quotes in his Clarification of the Schools Based on T’ien-t’ai’s Doctrine. “Lu” in this passage is Confucius’s native state in China. The people of Lu are said to have been unaware of the greatness of Confucius.

55. Lotus Sutra, chap. 10.

56. The five provinces are Yamashiro, Yamato, Kawachi, Izumi, and Settsu. The seven outlying regions are Tōkaidō, Tōsandō, Hokurikudō, San’indō, San’yōdō, Nankaidō, and Saikaidō.

 

Lecture

 

These Pronouncements of Jikaku and Chishō were Clearly Inconsistent

This chapter clarifies the errors of Jikaku and Chisho, who turned against their original teacher, the Great Teacher Dengyo, and refutes their sin of slandering the Law.

“These [claims] may all be termed ‘self-contradiction’ (jigo-so’i).” Some claim that the Mantra (Esoteric) teachings are superior; others claim the Lotus Sutra is superior; still others claim the doctrine of “equality in principle, superiority in practice” (ri-do ji-sho). Furthermore, the Imperial Decree forbids anyone from debating the superiority of the two schools, labeling such people as “violators of the Imperial Will.” Because their views on the superiority of the Mantra and the Lotus teachings are so inconsistent, they are judged as being in a state of self-contradiction.

While Jikaku did not explicitly say the Lotus Sutra is superior, it was Chisho who established that claim; however, in this context, the critique is applied to both collectively.

The Tokai-sho states: “Question: Regarding the superiority or equality of the Mantra and Tiantai schools, how many points of disagreement are there? Answer: There are four points of disagreement:

1. Mantra is superior to Tiantai in both principle and practice: This is the view of Kobo (Kukai) and Chisho. Chisho’s commentary states that the ‘Three Contemplations’ and ‘One-Mind’ of Nanyue (Huisi) originate from the principle of ‘A-ji Honku’ (The Unborn Nature of the letter A). He argues that the Esoteric teachings of the Three Mysteries (Sanmitsu) secretly assist the Perfect Teaching of the One Reality. By defining the Esoteric as the ‘source’ and Tiantai as the ‘product,’ he implies Tiantai is inferior in both principle and practice.

2. Superiority in practice, equality in principle: The Esoteric is superior in ‘concrete practice’ (ji), but both schools are equal in ‘theoretical principle’ (ri). This is the view of Jikaku, Godain, and Tosotsu.

3. Absolute equality in both principle and practice: This is the view of the Great Teacher Dengyo. His commentary states that the essence of Mantra and Shikan (Tiantai meditation) is one. Therefore, both are propagated on one mountain. There is no difference between the ‘three actions’ (san-go) of the body, mouth, and mind in the enlightenment of the Lotus Sutra and the practice of the Three Mysteries.

4. The superiority of Tiantai over Mantra: This is a specific oral tradition based on the ‘Fourfold Secret Interpretation’ (Shiju Hishaku).”

“However, the equality of the two schools was the view of the late teacher Dengyo…” The main text asks, “But in what work of the Great Teacher Dengyō is this view to be found? ” implying that Dengyo never actually wrote that the Lotus and Mantra teachings are equal.

However, among Dengyo’s writings, passages stating the two are equal do exist. For instance, in the Gozu-ketsu, it says: “Though the Great Path differs, the Mystery is one.” In the Gakusho-shiki, it says: “Shikan and Mantra are like the two wings of a bird or the two wheels of a carriage.” Why, then, does this treatise claim Dengyo did not have a text asserting “equality”?

It is because such statements are merely “provisional/secondary” (bo-gi) interpretations based on a general comparison of the teachings. They are not his “true/ultimate” intent (sho-i) based on a rigorous re-evaluation of the sutras. This is the same logic as saying, “The ‘Mystic’ (Myo) of this sutra and that sutra are the same in name, but they differ in whether they contain ‘expedient means’ (hoben).” Dengyo’s ultimate position is clear from the following facts:

1. He did not name his school “Mantra,” but called it the “Tiantai Lotus School.”

2. In the Shugo-shoko, he designated the Dainichi Sutra as a “supporting” sutra, not the primary one.

3. In the Ehyo-shu, he refuted the Mantra teachings.

4. He cited the Ki-ju to label the founder of Mantra as a “person of Lu” (an unlearned person).

5. He recorded the story of Ganko to the same effect.

These points prove that Dengyo believed in the superiority of the Lotus Sutra over the Mantra teachings. He practiced the Esoteric rituals on Mount Hiei only as a “means to remove obstacles” (jo-sho hoben) for the sake of the people in an evil age.

Clarification of the Schools by the Great Teacher Dengyō

This section refutes the error of contradicting the sacred texts. The Ehyo-shu (Collection of Dependencies) clarifies that all other Buddhist sects actually depend on the Tiantai school to establish their own doctrines. High Priest Nikkan stated: “The intent of this preface is to highlight how the founders of other schools depended on Tiantai, thereby refuting the biased attachments of their later disciples.”

Whether it is the Mantra, Kegon, Sanron, or Hosso schools—which once led the intellectual and political world—they all rely on “pre-Lotus” provisional sutras that Shakyamuni himself refuted as “not yet revealing the truth.” Therefore, there is a difference as vast as heaven and earth between them and the Tiantai Lotus school.

Today, only the Soka Gakkai is the orthodox and legitimate lineage of Buddhism. False sects calling themselves “Nichiren-shu,” or “thieves of the Law” like Rissho Kosei-kai, merely imitate the Soka Gakkai and exploit the ignorance of the masses for self-interest.

The Path Inherited from the Master

“On the path inherited from the master, one cannot neglect either the concentration and insight or the True Word teachings.“ One must choose the Correct Law and correct teacher to achieve Buddhahood in this lifetime. Believers in false laws will fall into the Great Citadel of the Hell of Incessant Suffering.

“On the path inherited from the master, one cannot neglect either the concentration and insight or the True Word teachings.” “Teacher” (shi) refers to the master; “Disciple” (shi/shitsu) refers to the one who receives the teaching. Without this bond, one cannot attain enlightenment. The relationship between Nichiren Daishonin and Nikko Shonin is the perfect example of this path. Of the six senior priests, only Nikko Shonin understood the Daishonin’s Buddhism perfectly and revered him as the True Buddha. The others retreated and turned against their teacher because they lacked faith. In the Gakkai, we must never allow anyone to become like the five senior priests.

Our Gakkai’s faith in the Gohonzon—the only transmission from the Daishonin and Nikko Shonin—is the true practice of the way of teacher and disciple. Sects that practice hereditary succession (passing leadership to children) cannot be called Buddhism; they are merely “hungry spirits” (gaki) wearing the mask of Buddhism for profit.

 

 

Chapter17(Sutras and Commentaries on the Supremacy of the Lotus Sutra)

Main Text

In the fifth volume of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha states, “Manjushrī, this Lotus Sutra is the secret storehouse of the Buddhas, the Thus Come Ones. Among the sutras, it holds the highest place.”

If this passage of the scripture is to be believed, then the Lotus Sutra must represent the correct teaching that dwells supreme above the Mahāvairochana and all the numerous other sutras. How then, one wonders, would Shan-wu-wei, Chin-kang-chih, Pu-k’ung, Kōbō, Jikaku, and Chishō interpret this passage in the sutra and reconcile it with their beliefs?

Again, the seventh volume of the Lotus Sutra states, “A person who can accept and uphold this sutra is likewise foremost among all living beings.”⁵⁷ If this passage of the sutra is to be believed, then the votary of the Lotus Sutra must be like the great sea as compared to the various rivers and streams, like Mount Sumeru among the host of mountains, like the god of the moon amid the multitude of stars, like the great god of the sun amid the other shining lights, like the wheel-turning kings, like the lord Shakra, and like the great king Brahmā among all various heavenly kings.

The Great Teacher Dengyō in his work entitled The Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sutra writes, “This sutra likewise is foremost among all the sutra teachings . . . A person who can accept and uphold this sutra is likewise foremost among all living beings.”

After quoting this passage from the Lotus Sutra, Dengyō notes a passage from the work entitled The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra by T’ien-t’ai that interprets the same passage of scripture, and explains its meaning as follows: “One should understand that the sutras on which the other schools base their teachings are not foremost among the sutras, and those people who can uphold such sutras are not foremost among the multitude. But the Lotus Sutra, which is upheld by the Tendai Lotus school, is the foremost of all the sutras, and therefore those who can uphold the Lotus are foremost among living beings. This is borne out by the words of the Buddha himself. How could it be mere self-praise?”

Later in the work just mentioned, Dengyō says, “Detailed explanations concerning how the various schools base their teachings upon the T’ien-t’ai doctrine are given in a separate work.” Clarification of the Schools, referred to as the separate work, states: “Now the founder of our school, the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai, preached the Lotus Sutra and interpreted the Lotus Sutra in a way that placed him far above the crowd; in all of China, he stood alone. One should clearly understand that he was a messenger of the Thus Come One. Those who praise him will receive blessings that will pile up as high as Mount Calm and Bright, while those who slander him will be committing a fault that will condemn them to the hell of incessant suffering.”

 

Notes

57. Lotus Sutra, chap. 23.

 

Lecture

The Scriptural Proof of Superiority

From this chapter onwards, the text clarifies the correct propagation of Nichiren Daishonin. It begins by citing scriptural passages stating that the Lotus Sutra is the supreme among all sutras, followed by the commentaries of T’ien-t’ai and Dengyo.

The passage from the fifth scroll of the Lotus Sutra, “This Lotus Sutra is the secret storehouse of the Buddhas, the Thus Come Ones. Among the sutras, it holds the highest place.” is found in the Peaceful Practices chapter (Chapter 14).

The next citation, from the seventh scroll of the Lotus Sutra, comes from the Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King chapter (Chapter 23). It is the eighth of the “Ten Metaphors”—specifically the metaphor of the Pratyekabuddha (the Four Fruits).

In the Hokke Shuku (The Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sutra), the Great Teacher Dengyo cites the entire passage of the eighth metaphor, which describes both the superiority of the “Law being upheld” and the “person who upholds it.” Why, then, does this treatise cite the Peaceful Practices chapter instead of the passage on the superiority of the Law from the Medicine King chapter?

High Priest Nikkan Shonin answers this in his Mondan (Commentaries):

“However, inferring the original intent, it is likely cited specifically to refute the Shingon (True Word) sect. There are two meanings here:

1. That sect designates the Mahavairocana Sutra (Dainichi-kyo) as ‘secret.’ Shakyamuni designated the Lotus Sutra specifically as ‘secret,’ hence the sutra says, ‘secret storehouse.’ (Question: If so, is their sutra not secret? Answer: Theirs is ‘hidden/obscure’ but not the ‘fine/subtle secret’ of the truth.)

2. That sect regards the Diamond Crown Sutra (Kongochō-kyo) as the summit of all sutras. Shakyamuni correctly designates the Lotus Sutra as the summit of all sutras. Hence it says, ‘among all sutras, it sits at the very top.'”

 

The Great Teacher Dengyō in his work entitled The Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sutra writes,

The text of the eighth metaphor in The Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sutra(Hokke Shuku) is as follows:

“It also says: Just as among all ordinary mortals, the Stream-winner, the Once-returner, the Non-returner, the Arhat, and the Pratyekabuddha are the foremost, so it is with this sutra. Among all the sutras preached by the Thus Come Ones, preached by bodhisattvas, or preached by voice-hearers, it is the foremost. So is the person who can accept and uphold this classic; among all living beings, that person is the foremost.”

T’ien-t’ai’s Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra (Hokke Gengi) states:

“Like the five kinds of Buddha’s disciples, [the Pratyekabuddha] is foremost among mortals. Or, like one who extracts living beings and leads them to Nirvana. It is like the Bodhisattva who dwells above those of the stage of ‘Learning and No Learning.’ The current Sutra [Lotus Sutra] extracts living beings and places them above the Bodhisattvas of the expedient teachings. It equates to becoming the Dharma King; it is the absolute foremost.”

One must realize that the sutras relied upon by other schools are not yet the “absolute foremost.” Therefore, the persons who uphold those sutras are also not yet “foremost.” The Lotus Sutra held by the Tiantai Lotus School is the absolute foremost. Therefore, the person who upholds the Lotus Sutra is also foremost among all living beings. This is based on the Buddha’s own words; how could it be self-praise?

The phrase “This sutra likewise is foremost among all the sutra teachings.“ refers to the superiority of the Law being upheld (sho-ji). The phrase “A person who can accept and uphold this sutra is likewise foremost among all living beings.“ refers to the superiority of the practitioner who upholds it (no-ji).

As stated in Person and the Law: “Since the Law is wonderful, the person is worthy of respect.”(WND1, p.1097) Therefore, those who slander this Law and this Person create the karma to fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering (Avici Hell).

What was The Great Teacher Dengyō’s purpose in writing The Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sutra

The Hokke Shuku consists of three scrolls (Upper, Middle, Lower) and was written in the 12th year of Konin (821 AD). It is also known as the “Ten Superiorities” (Jussho). Nichiren Daishonin wrote the Shuku Jussho Sho, making it clear he studied the Hokke Shuku. (Note: While the Shuku Jussho Sho is a genuine writing, it is considered a summary of Tiantai doctrines and is not included in the Gosho Zenshu).

The purpose of writing the Hokke Shuku is stated in its preface:

“The Hokke Shuku is a whetstone for polishing the jewel in the topknot… The scheming guest disputes right and wrong; the host seeking the jewel knows not where to turn… Therefore, I clear away the forest of rough food and establish the perfect city of Tiantai. There is a schemer [Tokuitsu] who says, ‘The doctrine of the Four Vehicles established by Tiantai steals the meaning of the Kegon sect… If Tiantai has no doctrine of its own, it cannot be a separate sect.’ He wishes to blind the people of the time… Therefore, I write these three scrolls of the Hokke Shuku. My only desire is that the victorious banner of the Mystic Law does not fall for a thousand generations…”

From this preface, we know the purpose was to assert the absolute superiority of the Lotus Sutra, crush the schemers of other sects, and increase the brilliance of the Tiantai Lotus teachings.

The “Ten Superiorities” (Jussho) in the section on Revealing Superiority include:

1. Superiority of Truth Revealed (vs. Expedient)

2. Superiority of the Sutra Title’s Meaning

3. Superiority of Preaching without Request … [listing continues through 10]

Through these writings, the Great Teacher Dengyo single-handedly crushed the erroneous sects and doctrines of his time.

Shakyamuni, T’ien-t’ai, and Dengyo all designated the Lotus Sutra as foremost among all sutras. In contrast, Jikaku designated the Shingon (Esoteric) teachings as foremost. This makes him an enemy of the Buddha and a great sinner. Kobo designated the Lotus Sutra as third, which is a grave error. However, Jikaku and Chisho, who designated the Lotus Sutra as second (claiming equality in principle), committed an even heavier sin because they confused people more deeply.

The Basics of Buddhist Study

 

 

Chapter18(The Three Teachers of the Three Countries of the Lotus Sutra)

Main Text

If we go by the Lotus Sutra and the interpretations of it put forward by T’ien-t’ai, Miao-lo, and Dengyō, then, in Japan at the present time, there is not a single votary of the Lotus Sutra!

In India, when Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, was preaching the Lotus Sutra as described in the “Treasure Tower” chapter, he summoned all the various Buddhas and had them take their seats upon the ground. Only the Thus Come One Mahāvairochana⁵⁸ was seated within the treasure tower, on the lower seat to the south,⁵⁹ while Shakyamuni Buddha was seated on the upper seat to the north.

This Thus Come One Mahāvairochana is the master of the Mahāvairochana of the Womb Realm described in the Mahāvairochana Sutra, and of the Mahāvairochana of the Diamond Realm described in the Diamond Crown Sutra. This Mahāvairochana, or Many Treasures Buddha, who has as his vassals the Thus Come Ones Mahāvairochana of the two realms just mentioned, is in turn surpassed by Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, who sits in the seat above him. This Shakyamuni Buddha is a true practitioner of the Lotus Sutra. Such was the situation in India.

In China, in the time of the Ch’en emperor [Shu-pao], the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai defeated in debate the Buddhist leaders of northern and southern China, and was honored with the title of Great Teacher while still alive. As Dengyō says of him, he was “far above the crowd; in all of China, he stood alone.”

In Japan, the Great Teacher Dengyō defeated in debate the leaders of the six schools and became the country’s first and foremost great teacher, Great Teacher Kompon.

In India, China, and Japan, these three persons alone—Shakyamuni, T’ien-t’ai, and Dengyō—were what the Lotus Sutra calls “foremost among all living beings.”

Thus Outstanding Principles states: “Shakyamuni taught that the shallow is easy to embrace, but the profound is difficult. To discard the shallow and seek the profound is the way of a person of courage. The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai trusted and obeyed Shakyamuni and worked to uphold the Lotus school, spreading its teachings throughout China. We of Mount Hiei inherited the doctrine from T’ien-t’ai and work to uphold the Lotus school and to disseminate its teachings throughout Japan.”

In the eighteen hundred years or more since the passing of the Buddha, there has been only one votary of the Lotus Sutra in China and one in Japan. If Shakyamuni Buddha himself is added to the number, that makes a total of three persons.

The secular classics of China claim that a sage will appear once every thousand years, and a worthy once every five hundred. In the Yellow River where the Ching and Wei rivers⁶⁰ flow into it, the flow of the two tributary rivers remains separate. But it is said that, once every five hundred years, one side of the river will flow clear, and once every thousand years, both sides of the river will flow clear. [In the same way, sages and worthies appear at fixed intervals.]

 

Notes

58. “Mahāvairochana” here indicates the Buddha Many Treasures.

59. The south here corresponds to the left, as the treasure tower faces the west. The south seat is “lower” because, according to Indian custom, the left is inferior to the right.

60. Rivers in Shansi Province, China. The Ching River is always turbid and the Wei clear.

 

Lecture

 

 

Chapter19(Clarifying That Only Slanderers Exist in Japan)

Main Text

In Japan, as we have seen, only on Mount Hiei in the time of the Great Teacher Dengyō was there a votary of the Lotus Sutra. Dengyō was succeeded by Gishin and Enchō, the first and second chief priests of the school, respectively. But only the first chief priest, Gishin, followed the ways of the Great Teacher Dengyō. The second chief priest, Enchō, was half a disciple of Dengyō and half a disciple of Kōbō.

The third chief priest, the Great Teacher Jikaku, at first acted like a disciple of the Great Teacher Dengyō. But after he went to China at the age of forty, though he continued to call himself a disciple of Dengyō and went through the motions of carrying on Dengyō’s line, he taught a kind of Buddhism that was wholly unworthy of a true disciple of Dengyō. Only in the matter of the precepts of perfect and immediate enlightenment established by Dengyō did he conduct himself like a true disciple.

He was like a bat, for a bat resembles a bird yet is not a bird, and resembles a mouse yet is not a mouse. Or he was like an owl or a hakei beast.⁶¹ He ate his father, the Lotus Sutra, and devoured his mother, those who embrace the Lotus Sutra. When he dreamed that he shot down the sun, it must have been a portent of these crimes. And it must have been because of these acts that, after his death, no grave was set aside for him.

The temple Onjō-ji, representing Chishō’s branch of the Tendai school, fought incessantly with the temple Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei, which represented Jikaku’s branch of the school,⁶² the two going at each other like so many asuras and evil dragons. First Onjō-ji was burned down, then the buildings on Mount Hiei. As a result, the image of Bodhisattva Maitreya that had been the special object of devotion of the Great Teacher Chishō was burned, and the special object of devotion of the Great Teacher Jikaku, as well as the great lecture hall on Mount Hiei, was likewise burned. The priests of the two temples must have felt as though they had fallen into the hell of incessant suffering while they were still in this world. Only the main hall on Mount Hiei remained standing.

The lineage of the Great Teacher Kōbō has likewise ceased to be what it should have been. Kōbō left written instructions that no one who had not received the precepts at the ordination platform [established by Ganjin] at Tōdai-ji should be allowed to become head of Tō-ji temple. The Retired Emperor Kampyō,⁶³ however, founded a temple [in Kyoto] called Ninna-ji and moved a number of priests from Tō-ji to staff it, and he also issued a decree clearly stating that no one should be allowed to reside in Ninna-ji unless he had received the precepts of perfect and immediate enlightenment at the ordination platform on Mount Hiei. As a result, the priests of Tō-ji are neither disciples of Ganjin nor those of Kōbō. In terms of the precepts, they are Dengyō’s disciples. However, they do not behave like true disciples of Dengyō. They turn their backs on the Lotus Sutra, which Dengyō considered to be supreme.

Kōbō died on the twenty-first day of the third month in the second year of the Jōwa era (835), and the imperial court sent a representative to offer prayers at his funeral. Later, however, his disciples gathered together and, bent on deception, announced that he [had not died at all but] had entered a state of deep meditation, and some of them even claimed that they had had to shave his head because his hair had grown long. Others asserted that while he was in China he had hurled a three-pronged diamond-pounder all the way across the ocean to Japan;⁶⁴ that in answer to his prayers the sun had come out in the middle of the night; that he had transformed himself into the Thus Come One Mahāvairochana; or that he had instructed the Great Teacher Dengyō in the eighteen paths⁶⁵ of esoteric Buddhism. Thus by enumerating their teacher’s supposed virtues and powers, they hoped to make him appear wise, in this way lending support to his false doctrines and deluding the ruler and his ministers.

In addition, on Mount Kōya there are two main temples, the original temple⁶⁶ and Dembō-in. The original temple, which includes the great pagoda, was founded by Kōbō and is dedicated to the Thus Come One Mahāvairochana [of the Womb Realm]. The temple called Dembō-in was founded by Shōgaku-bō and is dedicated to the Mahāvairochana of the Diamond Realm. These two temples fight with each other day and night, in the same way as Onjō-ji at the foot of Mount Hiei and Enryaku-ji on top of Mount Hiei. Was it the accumulation of deceit that brought about the appearance in Japan of these calamities?

You may pile up dung and call it sandalwood, but when you burn it, it will give off only the odor of dung. You may pile up a lot of great lies and call them the teachings of the Buddha, but they will never be anything but a gateway to the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering.

The stupa built by Nirgrantha Jnātaputra over a period of several years conferred great benefit upon living beings, but when Bodhisattva Ashvaghosha bowed to it, it suddenly collapsed.⁶⁷ The Brahman Demon Eloquence taught from behind a curtain and for a number of years succeeded in fooling others, but Bodhisattva Ashvaghosha berated him and exposed his falsehoods.⁶⁸ The non-Buddhist teacher Ulūka turned himself into a stone and remained in that form for eight hundred years, but when Bodhisattva Dignāga berated him, he turned into water. The Taoist priests for several hundred years deceived the people of China, but when they were rebuked by the Buddhist monks Kāshyapa Mātanga and Chu Fa-lan, they burned their own scriptures that purported to teach the way of the immortals.

Just as Chao Kao seized control of the country and Wang Mang⁶⁹ usurped the position of emperor, so the leaders of the True Word school deprived the Lotus Sutra of the rank it deserves and declared that its domain belongs instead to the Mahāvairochana Sutra. If the monarch of the Law has been deprived of his kingdom in this manner, can the monarch of people hope to remain peaceful and unharmed?

 

Notes

61. The owl was said to eat its mother, and the legendary hakei, a beast like a tiger, to eat its father.

62. Some time after Chishō’s death, friction over doctrinal differences arose between his followers and those in the line of Jikaku. It culminated in a violent dispute over succession to the chief priesthood after the death of Ryōgen, the eighteenth chief priest of Enryaku-ji. In 993, the followers of Chishō left Enryaku-ji and established themselves at Onjō-ji. The priests of the two temples attacked one another repeatedly.

63. Kampyō refers to the fifty-ninth emperor Uda (867–931) of Japan. After his abdication in 897, he took Buddhist vows and was known as the Retired Emperor Kampyō.

64. A ritual implement used for prayers in esoteric True Word Buddhism. This story appears in The Biography of the Great Teacher Kōbō by the True Word priest Ken’i (1072–1145). According to this work, before Kōbō left China, he hurled a three-pronged diamond-pounder into the air. Returning to Japan, he went to Mount Kōya to carry out the practice of the esoteric teachings. There he found the same diamond-pounder resting in a tree’s branches.

65. Esoteric practices employing eighteen different mudras, nine for the Diamond Realm and nine for the Womb Realm.

66. The original temple refers to Kongōbu-ji, the head temple of the True Word school, located on Mount Kōya.

67. This story appears in A History of the Buddha’s Successors. King Kanishka happened to pass by the stupa adorned with seven kinds of treasures that Nirgrantha Jnātaputra, one of the six non-Buddhist teachers and the founder of Jainism, had built. He mistook it for a Buddhist stupa and worshiped it, whereupon it collapsed. The Daishonin says that Ashvaghosha was the one who caused the stupa to collapse, probably because King Kanishka was converted to Buddhism by Ashvaghosha.

68. This story appears in Record of the Western Regions. In India there was a conceited Brahman named Demon Eloquence who amused himself with paradoxical theories and worshiped demons. He lived in a forest secluded from people. Because he conducted debates from behind a curtain, nobody had seen his true form. One day Ashvaghosha, together with the ruler, went to confront him in debate and argued him into silence. Then Ashvaghosha lifted the curtain, exposing his demonic appearance.

69. Wang Mang (45 b.c.e.–c.e. 23) was a high official who lived toward the end of the Former Han dynasty and controlled the throne by appointing nine-year-old Emperor P’ing to succeed. Eventually he poisoned P’ing, usurped the throne, and established a new dynasty called the Hsin.

 

Lecture

This chapter clarifies that there are no practitioners of the Lotus Sutra at all in our country, and that it is filled only with those who slander the Law. It is further divided into three sections:

First, it reveals the actual punishment (striking retribution) in this life and the posthumous disgrace of Jikaku, Chisho, and Kobo.

Second, beginning with the mention of Nirgrantha (Niken), it provides historical precedents showing that even if one deceives and confuses the world, such influence cannot endure for long.

Third, beginning with the mention of Zhao Gao (Choko), it clarifies the reasons behind the ruin of a nation.

 

 

Chapter20(Nichiren Daishonin’s Admonition to the Nation)

Main Text

Japan today is filled with followers of Jikaku, Chishō, and Kōbō—there is not a single person who is not a slanderer of the Law.

If we stop to consider the situation, it is very much like what prevailed in the Latter Day of the Law of the Buddha Great Adornment or the Latter Day of the Law of the Buddha All Bright King.⁷⁰ In the Latter Day of the Law of the Buddha Awesome Sound King, even though people repented of their wrongdoings, they still had to suffer for a thousand kalpas in the Avīchi hell.⁷¹ What, then, of the situation today? The True Word teachers, the followers of the Zen school, and the priests of the Nembutsu show not the slightest sign of repentance in their hearts. Can there be any doubt that, as the Lotus Sutra says, they “will keep repeating this cycle for a countless number of kalpas”?⁷²

Because Japan is a country where the correct teaching is slandered, heaven has abandoned it. And because heaven has abandoned it, the various benevolent deities who in the past guarded and protected the nation have burned their shrines and returned to the Capital of Tranquil Light.

Now there is only I, Nichiren, who remain behind, announcing and giving warning of these things. But when I do so, the rulers of the nation treat me like an enemy. People by the hundreds curse me and speak ill of me, attack me with staves and sticks, swords and knives. Door after door is closed to me, house after house drives me away. And when the authorities find that even such treatment does not stop me, they intervene in the matter. Twice they sent me into exile, and once, on the twelfth day of the ninth month in the eighth year of Bun’ei (1271), they very nearly cut off my head.

The Sovereign Kings Sutra says, “Because evil people are respected and favored and good people are subjected to punishment, marauders will appear from other regions, and the people of the country will meet with death and disorder.”

The Great Collection Sutra states: “There may perhaps be various kings of the Kshatriya class who act in a way contrary to the Law, causing anguish to the voice-hearer disciples of the World-Honored One. Perhaps they may curse and revile them or beat and injure them with swords and staves, or deprive them of their robes and begging bowls and the other things they need. Or perhaps they may restrain and persecute those who give alms to the disciples. If there should be those who do such things, then we will see to it that their enemies in foreign lands rise up suddenly of their own accord and march against them, and we will cause uprisings to break out within their states. We will bring about pestilence and famine, unseasonable winds and rains, and contention, wrangling, [and slander]. And we will make certain that those rulers do not last for long, but that their nations are brought to destruction.”

As these passages from the sutras indicate, if I, Nichiren, were not here in Japan, then one might suppose that the Buddha was a teller of great lies for making such predictions, and that he could not escape falling into the Avīchi hell.

On the twelfth day of the ninth month in the eighth year of Bun’ei, I stood in the presence of Hei no Saemon and several hundred others and declared, “Nichiren is the pillar of Japan! Doing away with Nichiren is toppling the pillar of Japan!”

The passages of scripture I have quoted indicate that, if the rulers, heeding the slanders of evil monks or the vicious talk of others, should inflict punishment on persons of wisdom, then warfare will immediately break out, great winds will blow, and attackers will appear from foreign lands. In the second month of the ninth year of Bun’ei (1272), fighting did in fact break out between two factions of the ruling Hōjō family;⁷³ in the fourth month of the eleventh year of Bun’ei, there were violent winds;⁷⁴ and in the tenth month of the same year, the Mongol forces attacked Japan. Has not all of this come about because of the treatment that has been given to me, Nichiren? This is exactly what I have been predicting from times past. Can anyone be in doubt about the matter?

 

Notes

70. According to the Buddha Treasury Sutra, in the remote past after the death of Great Adornment Buddha, his followers split into five schools, and only the monk Universal Practice correctly upheld what the Buddha had taught. The leaders of the four other schools held erroneous views and persecuted Universal Practice. For this reason, they and their followers fell into hell, where they suffered for a long time. Later, they were able to encounter and practice the correct teaching of the Buddha All Bright King. However, because of their grave offenses in the past, not one of them was able to attain nirvana at that time but had to endure again the sufferings of hell. The Buddha Treasury Sutra does not specifically mention that they were reborn in the Latter Day of the Law of the Buddha All Bright King.

71. This refers to the people who persecuted Bodhisattva Never Disparaging after the death of the Buddha Awesome Sound King, as described in the Lotus Sutra, chap. 20.

72. Lotus Sutra, chap. 3.

73. Hōjō Tokisuke (1247–1272), elder half brother of Regent Hōjō Tokimune, attempted to seize power, but failed. Many were killed in the fighting in Kyoto and Kamakura.

74. A reference to prayers for rain conducted by the True Word priest Dharma Seal Kaga, which produced not only rain but a destructive gale as well. The incident is described in detail in The Actions of the Votary of the Lotus Sutra.

 

Lecture