Reply to Sairen-bō
- Background
- Chapter1（Thank you for your articles that came from the capital）
- Chapter2（Rejoicing that you became the believer in myoho and being pledged to each other as teacher and disciple）
- Chapter3（One should shun those who are erroneous or evil, and associate with those who are correct and good）
- Chapter4（Listing the evidence of sutras and the name of the priests as evil teachers）
Background
This letter was written to Sairen-bō Nichijō in the fourth month of the ninth year of Bun’ei (1272) at Ichinosawa on Sado Island. Sairen-bō, a former Tendai priest, was also living in exile on Sado. From the letters sent to him by Nichiren Daishonin, it appears that Sairen-bō was well versed in Buddhist teachings. The Daishonin, on receiving the government’s pardon, left Sado and moved to Minobu. Somewhat later Sairen-bō was also pardoned, whereupon he returned to his native Kyoto. He received a number of important writings from the Daishonin, including The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life and The True Aspect of All Phenomena.
In this letter, the Daishonin expresses his heartfelt gratitude for the various articles from Kyoto that Sairen-bō had sent to him as offerings. For an exile such as Sairen-bō, these articles must have been exceedingly precious.
The Daishonin also refers to a letter that Sairen-bō had sent him. In his letter Sairen-bō explained that he had pledged near the beginning of the second month to follow the Daishonin, and he expressed his desire to be considered one of the Daishonin’s disciples.
With regard to Sairen-bō’s recent pledge to become his disciple, the Daishonin quotes from the Lotus Sutra and its commentaries to illustrate the profound relationship between teacher and disciple. He then states that one should discard evil teachers and follow good ones. He reveals that he himself is the true and correct teacher for the Latter Day of the Law and declares that Sairen-bō was born in order to aid him in his efforts, thereby encouraging his disciple to exert himself in Buddhist practice.
The Daishonin reveals the great benefits to be gained by observing the precept of the perfect teaching—in other words, faith in the Mystic Law. And he tells Sairen-bō that, although they may both be exiles, in the future they are sure to attain Buddhahood and that, therefore, he feels great satisfaction and joy. In conclusion, the Daishonin encourages Sairen-bō by suggesting that they are both likely to be pardoned soon.
Chapter1（Thank you for your articles that came from the capital）
TAKE great care when you come to see me after dark. I will explain to you in detail the teachings regarding the benefits to be gained by one ordained to the highest stage of Buddhist practice.1
I have carefully noted the contents of your letter. I have also received safely the various articles that came from the capital [Kyoto]. When I was living in Kamakura, such articles were a daily sight, but since having been exiled to this island, I have yet to encounter them. To come upon articles such as these on this tiny faraway island is truly most welcome.
In your letter you mention that you became a disciple of mine and pledged to follow me at the beginning of the second month, and that from now on, though you may not measure up to others, you would be most pleased and honored if I would continue to count you among my disciples.
Notes
1. The highest stage of Buddhist practice refers to the stage of perfect enlightenment, the highest of the fifty-two stages of bodhisattva practice.
Chapter2（Rejoicing that you became the believer in myoho and being pledged to each other as teacher and disciple）
The sutra says, “Those persons who had heard the Law dwelled here and there in various Buddha lands, constantly reborn in company with their teachers.”2 It also says, “If one stays close to the teachers of the Law, one will speedily gain the bodhisattva way. By following and learning from these teachers one will see Buddhas as numerous as Ganges sands.”3
A commentary states, “Originally one followed this Buddha and for the first time conceived the desire to seek the way. And by following this Buddha again, one will reach the stage where there is no retrogression.”4 Another commentary states, “In the beginning one followed this Buddha or bodhisattva and formed a bond with him, and so it will be through this Buddha or bodhisattva that one will attain one’s goal.”5
When I consider these passages of the sutra and the commentaries, I wonder if you and I have not been pledged to each other as teacher and disciple from countless kalpas in the past. You and I have been born together in this defiled age of the Latter Day of the Law, in the country of Japan in the southern continent of Jambudvīpa, and with the utmost reverence we chant with our mouths Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the ultimate reason for which the Buddhas appear in the world; we believe in it in our hearts, embrace it with our bodies, and delight in it with our hands. Has all of this not come about solely because of some bond of karma we share from the past?
Notes
2. Lotus Sutra, chap. 7.
3. Ibid., chap. 10.
4. The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra.
5. The Annotations on “The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra.”
Chapter3（One should shun those who are erroneous or evil, and associate with those who are correct and good）
When I look at the situation in Japan, I find that the devil king of the sixth heaven has taken possession of the bodies of wise persons, transforming correct teachers into erroneous teachers, and good teachers into bad teachers. This is what the sutra means when it says, “Evil demons will take possession of others.”6
Although I, Nichiren, am not a man of wisdom, the devil king of the sixth heaven has attempted to take possession of my body. But I have for some time been taking such great care that he now no longer comes near me. Therefore, because the power of the heavenly devil is ineffectual against me, he instead possesses the ruler and his high officials, or foolish priests such as Ryōkan, and causes them to hate me.
Be that as it may, one should understand that, at present, when it comes to teachers, there is a difference between correct teachers and erroneous teachers, between good teachers and bad teachers. One should shun those who are erroneous or evil, and associate with those who are correct and good. Even if their virtue is known throughout the country and their wisdom is as bright as the sun and moon, one should recognize that teachers who slander the Lotus Sutra are evil teachers and erroneous teachers, and refrain from approaching them. A sutra warns us on this point, “If there are slanderers of the Law, one should not dwell with them. If one draws near them and dwells with them, one will be bound for the Avīchi hell.”7
No matter how honest and upright you may be, or how you may strive to be known as a worthy person in the secular or the religious world, if you associate with evil persons, then as a natural result you will find that in two or three instances out of ten you are following their teachings, and in the end you, too, will become an evil person. Thus the commentary says, “Though one may not be evil to begin with, if one associates with and is friendly with evil persons, one is bound in time to become an evil person oneself, and one’s evil reputation will spread throughout the world.”8
Notes
6. Lotus Sutra, chap. 13.
7. Ten Kinds of Wheels Sutra.
8. The Annotations on “Great Concentration and Insight.”
Chapter4（Listing the evidence of sutras and the name of the priests as evil teachers）
In the end, what we mean by erroneous and evil teachers are those priests in the world today who slander the Lotus Sutra. The Nirvana Sutra says: “Bodhisattvas, have no fear of mad elephants. What you should fear are evil friends! . . . Even if you are killed by a mad elephant, you will not fall into the three evil paths. But if you are killed by an evil friend, you are certain to fall into them.” The Lotus Sutra says, “In that evil age there will be monks with perverse wisdom and hearts that are fawning and crooked.”9
As I have pointed out so many times in the past, when teachers such as Shan-wu-wei, Chin-kang-chih, Bodhidharma, Hui-k’o, Shan-tao, Hōnen, Kōbō of Tō-ji, Chishō of Onjō-ji, Jikaku of Mount Hiei, or Ryōkan of Kanto read the golden words, “Honestly discarding expedient means, [I will preach only the unsurpassed way],”10 they take them to mean, “Honestly discarding the true teachings, I will preach only the expedient teachings.” When they read the passage that says, “Among the sutras, it [the Lotus Sutra] holds the highest place,”11 they take it to mean, “Among the sutras, it holds the lowest place.” And when they read, “[Among those sutras] the Lotus is the foremost,”12 they take it to mean, “The Lotus holds second place,” or “holds third place.” That is why I describe these various priests as misleading and evil teachers.
Notes
9. Lotus Sutra, chap. 13.
10. Ibid., chap. 2.
11. Ibid., chap. 14.
12. Ibid., chap. 10.