On the True Word Teaching Ranking Seventh

On the True Word Teaching Ranking Seventh

Background

[EIGHT subjects to be clarified]

One: The Lotus Sutra ranks first while the Mahāvairochana Sutra ranks seventh.

Two: How the Buddhist teachers of China and Japan have judged the sacred teachings of the Buddha’s lifetime.

Three: Regarding the three sutras needed for the peace and protection of the nation.

Four: The imperial palace has its three treasures,1 which may be likened to the three Buddhist sutras for the peace and protection of the nation.

Five: Four categories of persons who adhere to the teachings of the T’ien-t’ai school.

Six: The status of the Lotus Sutra likened to the status of persons.

Seven: Regarding the three sections2 of the precinct of [Enryaku-ji] temple.

Eight: The ranking of Buddhas and gods in the country of Japan.

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Eight: The ranking of Buddhas and gods in the country of Japan.

Question: In this land of ours, what Buddha holds first place, what teaching holds first place, and what group of priests holds first place?

Answer: Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds holds first place, the teaching of the True Word school holds first place, and the priests of Tō-ji temple hold first place.

Question: Ever since the Buddhist teaching was introduced to Japan in the reign of the thirtieth sovereign,14 various mountain temples have been founded. But Enryaku-ji has been designated as the place of practice where prayers are offered to the guardian star of the emperor, and the place of practice for the peace and protection of the nation. Accordingly, first place should be assigned to Shakyamuni, the first object of devotion that was introduced to Japan. Or if not, first place should be assigned to Medicine Master of Enryaku-ji.

For generation after generation it has been the custom of the rulers of Japan to write out vows declaring themselves disciples of Mount Hiei. Therefore the Lotus Sutra should hold first place as the teaching there, and the priests of Enryaku-ji should hold first place. Why is a Buddha not designated there as the main object of devotion, but a bodhisattva put in first place where one of the Buddhas should be?

Answer: Your questions are quite understandable. However, in the time of Jikaku, Mount Hiei adopted the True Word teachings, Tō-ji was established as the headquarters for Kōbō’s True Word teachings, and therefore the priests of both temples became True Word teachers. Because the priests of both temples were True Word teachers, they regarded Tō-ji as the origin of their school and honored the True Word teachings. And because they honored the True Word teachings, they made Perceiver of the World’s Sounds the main object of devotion, since the True Word teachings hold that bodhisattvas are to be ranked above Buddhas. Therefore each year on the eighth day of the first month, when a Buddhist ceremony is held in the place of practice in the imperial palace, the first head priest of Tō-ji is invited to conduct the ceremony. If the first head priest is not free at that time, then the second head priest conducts the ceremony, though this privilege does not extend to the third head priest.

As a result of all this, the Buddha [honored as foremost] is in fact Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, the teaching is the True Word, and the priests [most highly honored] are the piests of Tō-ji. Since Mount Hiei is situated northeast of the capital, or in the direction of the so-called demon gate, it is ranked as inferior to Tō-ji, being treated as a warrior [who guards that direction] and is not paid the highest honor. This then is the reason that Japan is destined to become a lost nation.

Question: How should the gods be ranked?

Answer: The Sun Goddess should hold first place, with Great Bodhisattva Hachiman in second place. Below them should be ranked the gods of the 3,232 shrines.

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    1. Main Text
  1. Background
  2. Notes

Background

This document is generally held to have been written in 1270, but the recipient is unknown. Eight topical points are listed at the beginning, each addressed in the body of the text—seven in the form of charts or diagrams containing sutra passages and brief comments, and the last in a question-and-answer format.

Following is a brief summary of each of the eight sections.

(1) “The Lotus Sutra ranks first while the Mahāvairochana Sutra ranks seventh” derives from a comparison of the passages from the Lotus Sutra with those from the other sutras. The passages from the Lotus Sutra obviously indicate that it is the foremost. The Susiddhikara Sutra, which ranks sixth, says, “If one still does not achieve success, . . . recite the Great Wisdom Sutra seven times or a hundred times through.” Thus Nichiren Daishonin ranks the Wisdom sutras above this esoteric sutra. It also says, “Among the teachings concerning the three divisions [the esoteric sutras], this sutra is king.” Hence the Mahāvairochana Sutra ranks below it and seventh. This first point forms the central theme of this document; the remaining seven are varying perspectives or elaborations on it.

(2) “How the Buddhist teachers of China and Japan have judged the sacred teachings of the Buddha’s lifetime” concerns the rankings assigned to various key sutras by important Buddhist figures, making clear which among the Buddha’s sutra teachings they held to be fundamental.

(3) “Regarding the three sutras needed for the peace and protection of the nation” lists four sets of three sutras, established by Pu-k’ung, Prince Shōtoku, Dengyō, and Jikaku. The first three sets include the Lotus Sutra, whereas the fourth, advocated by Jikaku of the Tendai school, includes only the esoteric True Word sutras. This shows that Jikaku was more an advocate of the True Word teachings than of the teachings of Dengyō, the founder of the Tendai school in Japan who upheld the superiority of the Lotus Sutra.

(4) In support of the third point above, the three sacred treasures of Japan’s imperial house are listed as the emblems of imperial lineage. The three treasures, two of which have been lost, may be compared to the three Buddhist sutras established by Jikaku of the Tendai school, who forsook the Lotus Sutra in favor of the Mahāvairochana and other esoteric sutras.

(5) “Four categories of persons who adhere to the teachings of the T’ien-t’ai school.” Here Buddhist teachers in China and Japan are categorized into four groups in terms of whether or not they embraced T’ien-t’ai’s teachings based on the Lotus Sutra in body (their actions) or in mind.

(6) Next the status of four sutra teachings related to the Lotus Sutra—the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra, the Nirvana Sutra, and the theoretical teaching and essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra—is compared to the status of various leading ranks of persons, with the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra compared to the emperor.

(7) “Regarding the three sections of the precinct of Enryaku-ji temple.” Presented here are brief descriptions of the structures in the three sections of the grounds of Enryaku-ji, the head temple of the Tendai school on Mount Hiei, and their significance. These are the Tōdō (East area), the Saitō (West area), and the Yokawa area. The prominence of structures dedicated to the True Word teachings and related Buddhas, bodhisattvas, or deities, is made clear. Here, too, the weight given to esoteric True Word teachings is evident—a deviation from the views of Dengyō, the founder of Enryaku-ji.

(8) The final section, in textual format, consists of a series of questions and answers. The first answer represents the position of True Word adherents, but through this exchange, the Daishonin takes issue with the fact that the True Word teaching, with regard to the three treasures of Buddhism, considers Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds to be the treasure of the Buddha, the Mahāvairochana Sutra to be the treasure of the Law, and the priests of the True Word school to be the treasure of the Buddhist Order.

Having adopted the True Word teachings, the contemporary Tendai school shares this view, supplanting Shakyamuni Buddha and the Lotus Sutra as the treasures of the Buddha and the Law, and replacing those devoted to these treasures with the True Word priests of Tō-ji temple as the treasure of the Buddhist Order. The Daishonin concludes that this error in Buddhism is a cause for the destruction of the nation. The final question and answer concern the ranking of gods or heavenly deities in Japan. The answer is given briefly and succinctly, but the point of this information is not clear; for this reason it is assumed that there was an additional section of the text that was later lost.

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Notes

1. The three treasures of the imperial palace are the sacred jewel, the sacred sword, and the sacred mirror.

2. The precinct of Enryaku-ji temple on Mount Hiei is divided into three sections, Tōdō, Saitō, and Yokawa. Each section had one supervisor, and besides these three supervisors, one leading supervisor presided over all three sections. The Tōdō section, the main area, encompasses Shikan-in (Kompon Chūdō), the original building of Enryaku-ji, and other large buildings on Mount Hiei.

14. Emperor Kimmei (509–571), who is now regarded as the twenty-ninth emperor, because the administration of the fifteenth ruler Empress Jingū is no longer considered a formal reign. In Nichiren Daishonin’s time, however, she was included in the lineage, so Emperor Kimmei was counted as the thirtieth sovereign.

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