On Repaying Debts of Gratitude

Background and Summary（Short Story）

This text is Nichiren Daishonin’s treatise expressing gratitude to his late teacher, Dōzen-bō, and discussing the importance of repaying debts of gratitude. He emphasizes the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra and refutes the doctrines of other Buddhist schools. He reveals the Three Great Secret Laws of his Buddhism: the invocation of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the object of devotion (Gohonzon), and the sanctuary. He declares that this teaching will save people for eternity and repay his debt to Dōzen-bō. This treatise is significant as the first extant writing where Daishonin specifies each of the Three Great Secret Laws.

Main Text

If Nichiren’s compassion is truly great and encompassing, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo will spread for ten thousand years and more, for all eternity, for it has the beneficial power to open the blind eyes of every living being in the country of Japan, and it blocks off the road that leads to the hell of incessant suffering. Its benefit surpasses that of Dengyō and T’ien-t’ai, and is superior to that of Nāgārjuna and Mahākāshyapa.

A hundred years of practice in the Land of Perfect Bliss cannot compare to the benefit gained from one day’s practice in the impure world. Two thousand years of propagating Buddhism during the Former and Middle Days of the Law are inferior to an hour of propagation in the Latter Day of the Law. This is in no way because of Nichiren’s wisdom, but simply because the time makes it so. In spring the blossoms open, in autumn the fruit appears. Summer is hot, winter is cold. The season makes it so, does it not?

On Repaying Debts of Gratitude

Nichiren

Background

THE old fox never forgets the hillock where he was born;1 the white turtle repaid the kindness he had received from Mao Pao.2 If even lowly creatures know enough to do this, then how much more should human beings! Thus Yü Jang, a worthy man of old, fell on his sword in order to repay the debt he owed his lord Chih Po,3 and the minister Hung Yen for similar reasons cut open his stomach and inserted the liver of his dead lord, Duke Yi of Wei.4 What can we say, then, of persons who are devoting themselves to Buddhism? Surely they should not forget the debts of gratitude they owe to their parents, their teachers, and their country.

But if one intends to repay these great debts of gratitude, one can hope to do so only if one learns and masters Buddhism, becoming a person of wisdom. If one does not, one will be like a man who attempts to lead a company of the blind over bridges and across rivers when he himself has sightless eyes. Can a ship steered by someone who cannot even tell the direction of the wind ever carry the traveling merchants to the mountains where treasure lies?

If one hopes to learn and master Buddhism, then one cannot do so without devoting time to the task. And if one wants to have time to spend on the undertaking, one cannot continue to wait on one’s parents, one’s teachers, and one’s sovereign. Until one attains the road that leads to emancipation, one should not defer to the wishes and feelings of one’s parents and teachers, no matter how reasonable they may be.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　～（omitted)～

The size of the waves depends upon the wind that raises them, the height of the flames depends upon how much firewood is piled on, the size of the lotuses depends upon the pond in which they grow, and the volume of rain depends upon the dragons that make it fall. The deeper the roots, the more prolific the branches. The farther the source, the longer the stream.

The Chou dynasty lasted for seven hundred years because of the propriety and filial devotion of its founder, King Wen. The Ch’in dynasty (221–206 b.c.e.), on the other hand, lasted hardly any time at all, because of the perverse ways of its founder, the First Emperor of the Ch’in. If Nichiren’s compassion is truly great and encompassing, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo will spread for ten thousand years and more, for all eternity, for it has the beneficial power to open the blind eyes of every living being in the country of Japan, and it blocks off the road that leads to the hell of incessant suffering. Its benefit surpasses that of Dengyō and T’ien-t’ai, and is superior to that of Nāgārjuna and Mahākāshyapa.

A hundred years of practice in the Land of Perfect Bliss cannot compare to the benefit gained from one day’s practice in the impure world. Two thousand years of propagating Buddhism during the Former and Middle Days of the Law are inferior to an hour of propagation in the Latter Day of the Law. This is in no way because of Nichiren’s wisdom, but simply because the time makes it so. In spring the blossoms open, in autumn the fruit appears. Summer is hot, winter is cold. The season makes it so, does it not?

“After I [the Buddha] have passed into extinction, in the last five-hundred-year period you must spread it abroad widely throughout Jambudvīpa and never allow it to be cut off, nor must you allow evil devils, the devils’ people, heavenly beings, dragons, yakshas, or kumbhānda demons to seize the advantage!”129

If this passage of the Lotus Sutra should prove to be in vain, then Shāriputra will never become the Thus Come One Flower Glow, the Venerable Mahākāshyapa will never become the Thus Come One Light Bright, Maudgalyāyana will never become Tamalapattra Sandalwood Fragrance Buddha, Ānanda will never become Mountain Sea Wisdom Unrestricted Power King Buddha, the nun Mahāprajāpatī will never become the Buddha Gladly Seen by All Living Beings, and the nun Yashodharā will never become the Buddha Endowed with a Thousand Ten Thousand Glowing Marks. Major world system dust particle kalpas will then likewise be childish theory, and numberless major world system dust particle kalpas also will become a lie. Very likely Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, will fall into the hell of incessant suffering, Many Treasures Buddha will be gasping amid the flames of the Avīchi hell, the Buddhas of the ten directions will have their home in the eight great hells, and all the various bodhisattvas will be forced to suffer in the 136 hells.

But how could such a thing ever be? Since the sutra’s prediction was not made in vain, then it is certain that all the people of Japan will chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!

Thus the flower will return to the root and the essence of the plant will remain in the earth. The benefit that I have been speaking of will surely accumulate in the life of the late Dōzen-bō. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Written on the twenty-first day of the seventh month in the second year of Kenji (1276), cyclical sign hinoe-ne.

Respectfully sent from Mount Minobu, Hakiri Village, Kai Province, to Jōken-bō and Gijō-bō of Mount Kiyosumi, Tōjō District, Awa Province.

Cover Letter

I have received your letter. One should never speak of matters pertaining to the Buddhist doctrine to someone who has no faith, regardless of whether the person is a close friend or relation or a stranger. This is something you should keep in mind.

I have inscribed the Gohonzon for you. Even more in the years after the passing of the Buddha than during his lifetime, even more during the Middle Day of the Law than during the Former Day, and even more now in the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law than during the Middle Day, the enemies of the Lotus Sutra are bound to grow in power. If you understand this, you as well as anyone else will realize that there is no one in Japan other than myself who is a true votary of the Lotus Sutra.

A sketchy report of the passing of the Reverend Dōzen-bō reached me last month. I felt that I should go in person as quickly as possible, as well as sending the priest130 who bears this letter. However, though I do not think of myself as one who has retired from the world, other people seem to look at me in that way, and so I make it a rule not to leave this mountain.

This priest informed me of private reports from various people that there are likely to be doctrinal debates with the other schools in the near future. I have therefore been sending people to a number of temples in the different provinces in order to search out sutras and treatises from all over the country. I had sent this priest on such a mission to the province of Suruga, and he has just now returned, [so I am sending him with this letter].

In the enclosed treatise, I have written matters of the utmost importance. It would be wrong, therefore, to make the contents known to persons who do not understand the essence of Buddhism. And even if they are made known only to persons who do, if there are too many people involved, then word of the contents is likely to reach the ears of outsiders. That would not be conducive to your welfare, nor to mine.

Therefore, I ask that just the two of you, you and Gijō-bō, have the work read aloud two or three times at the summit of Kasagamori, with this priest to do the reading. Please have him read it once before the grave of the late Dōzen-bō as well. After that, leave it in the possession of this priest, and have him read it to you repeatedly. If you listen to it again and again, I believe you will come to understand and appreciate its meaning.

With my deep respect,

Nichiren

The twenty-sixth day of the seventh month

To the priest of Kiyosumi131

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Background

This lengthy treatise is one of Nichiren Daishonin’s five major writings. It is dated the twenty-first day of the seventh month, 1276, a little more than two years after the Daishonin had taken up residence at Minobu. It was prompted by the news of the death of Dōzen-bō, a priest of Seichō-ji temple in Awa Province, who had been the Daishonin’s teacher when he first entered the temple as a boy of twelve. Nichiren Daishonin wrote this treatise to express his gratitude to Dōzen-bō and sent it to Jōken-bō and Gijō-bō, senior priests at the time he entered the temple, who later became his followers. He entrusted this text to Nikō, one of his disciples, and requested that it be taken to Seichō-ji on his behalf and read aloud at Kasagamori on the summit of Mount Kiyosumi where he had first chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, and again in front of the tomb of his late teacher.

In 1233, Nichiren Daishonin entered Seichō-ji temple to study under Dōzen-bō. At that time, temples served as centers of learning as well as religion. During his stay at this temple, the Daishonin developed his extraordinary literary skills that later proved so valuable in propagating his teachings. He also embarked on a lifelong journey to find and proclaim the unique truth of Buddhism, which had been all but obscured by the emergence of various misleading schools.

On the twenty-eighth day of the fourth month, 1253, the Daishonin proclaimed Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to be the sole teaching leading directly to enlightenment in the Latter Day of the Law, while denouncing the doctrines of the then prevalent Pure Land school. Tōjō Kagenobu, the steward of the area and a fervent Pure Land believer, became furious on hearing of this and sent his men to the temple to arrest the Daishonin. Dōzen-bō, a devotee of the Pure Land teaching, could not defend him openly, but instructed the two senior priests, Jōken-bō and Gijō-bō, to guide his young disciple to safety.

Nichiren Daishonin and his former teacher met again in 1264, when the Daishonin visited his home in Awa after returning from exile on the Izu Peninsula. He later wrote that Dōzen-bō had asked him on this occasion if his practice of the Pure Land teaching would lead him into the hell of incessant suffering. In reply, the Daishonin told Dōzen-bō that he could not free himself from the effects of his slander unless he revered the Lotus Sutra as the fundamental teaching. Afterward, though Dōzen-bō did not entirely abandon his belief in Amida, he carved a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha. The Daishonin rejoiced that Dōzen-bō was apparently beginning to see his error because he felt indebted to this man who had initiated him into the priesthood and earnestly desired to lead him to the correct teaching.

Nichiren Daishonin begins this treatise by emphasizing the need to repay one’s obligations to one’s parents, teacher, the three treasures of Buddhism, and one’s sovereign. He teaches the importance of repaying debts of gratitude as a fundamental aspect of human behavior. Of these four debts of gratitude, this work stresses specifically repaying the debt owed to one’s teacher. Next, the Daishonin states that to repay such debts one must master the truth of Buddhism and attain enlightenment. To accomplish this goal, one must dedicate oneself single-mindedly to the Buddhist practice. However, to attain enlightenment, one must also practice the correct Buddhist teaching. The Daishonin traces the development of the various schools of Buddhism in India, China, and Japan, and examines their doctrines in terms of the relative superiority of the sutras on which they are based, emphasizing the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra. In particular, he refutes the erroneous doctrines of the True Word school. He vehemently denounces Jikaku and Chishō who, though they were patriarchs of the Japanese Tendai school, corrupted the school’s profound teachings, which are based on the Lotus Sutra, by mixing them with esoteric elements. The Daishonin concludes that only the Lotus Sutra contains the ultimate truth and, moreover, that the essence of the sutra, and of the whole of Buddhism, is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This is the teaching to be propagated in the Latter Day of the Law.

The concluding part of this work makes clear that the Buddha of the Latter Day is none other than Nichiren Daishonin himself, and that the Buddhism he teaches comprises the Three Great Secret Laws—the invocation or daimoku of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the object of devotion, and the sanctuary—which are implicit in the “Life Span” chapter of the Lotus Sutra but have never before been revealed. The Daishonin also makes it clear that, in establishing the Three Great Secret Laws for the enlightenment of all people, he is at the same time repaying his debt of gratitude to the deceased Dōzen-bō. Flowering and Bearing Grain, written two years later, states, “The blessings that Nichiren obtains from propagating the Lotus Sutra will always return to Dōzen-bō” (p. 909). This passage restates the message of the concluding part of this letter.

The present treatise is particularly important because it is the first extant writing in which Nichiren Daishonin specifies each of the Three Great Secret Laws, declaring that this teaching will save people for the ten thousand years of the Latter Day and more, for all eternity. These three, the core of the Daishonin’s Buddhism, represent the Law that was transferred to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth in the “Supernatural Powers” chapter for propagation in the Latter Day. The object of devotion is the Gohonzon that enables all people to attain Buddhahood; the daimoku is the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with faith in the object of devotion; and the sanctuary is the place where the object of devotion is enshrined and the daimoku is chanted to it.

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Notes

1. This appears in “Nine Pieces” of Elegies of Ch’u and other Chinese works. A commentary on Elegies of Ch’u by Chu Hsi of the Sung dynasty states: “The old fox dies, invariably turning his head toward the hillock. This is because he never forgets the place of his birth.”

2. This story appears in A Collection of Stories and Poems. When the young Mao Pao, who later became a general of the Chin dynasty, was walking along the Yangtze River, he saw a fisherman about to kill a turtle he had caught. Moved to pity, he gave the fisherman his clothing in exchange for the turtle and thus saved its life. Later, pursued by enemies, he reached the banks of the Yangtze. There the turtle he had saved in his youth appeared and carried him to the opposite shore.

3. According to Records of the Historian, Yü Jang of Chin first served the Fan and Chung-hang families but was not given an important position. Later, Yü Jang served under Chih Po, who treated him with great favor. In time, Chih Po was killed by Hsiang-tzu, the lord of Chao. To avenge his lord, Yü Jang disguised himself as a leper by lacquering his body, made himself a mute by drinking lye, and in this way attempted to approach Hsiang-tzu. But his attempt at assassination failed, and he was caught. Hsiang-tzu, understanding his feeling of loyalty, gave Yü Jang his robe. Yü stabbed it three times to show his enmity for the man who had killed his lord and then turned his sword upon himself.

4. This story appears in Records of the Historian. While Hung Yen was away on a journey, enemies attacked the state of Wei and killed his lord, Duke Yi, and devoured his body, leaving only the duke’s liver. Then they left the land. When Hung Yen returned, he saw the disastrous scene and wept. He slit open his own stomach and inserted the liver to save his lord from dishonor, and so died.

129. Lotus Sutra, chap. 23.

130. The “priest” refers to Nikō, one of the Daishonin’s six senior disciples.

131. Jōken-bō, one of the Daishonin’s seniors at Seichō-ji temple.

 

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