The Blessings of the Lotus Sutra

Background

This letter was written at Minobu in the intercalary third month of the second year of Kenji (1276) and addressed to Myōmitsu, a believer who lived at Kuwagayatsu in Kamakura. While detailed information about Myōmitsu is not available, it appears that he and his wife frequently made offerings to the Daishonin at his small dwelling in the wilderness of Mount Minobu.

Around the time this letter was written, the number of converts was growing due to the propagation efforts led by Nikkō, the Daishonin’s closest disciple, in Suruga and other provinces. In Kamakura as well, lay believers had become more active in propagation. However, as the number of new believers increased, so did government repression. But Myōmitsu and his wife, with other followers centering around Shijō Kingo, maintained their sincere faith in the Daishonin’s teachings.

In the beginning of this letter, Nichiren Daishonin stresses the Buddhist spirit of absolute reverence for life, and also the Buddhist practice of almsgiving, which sustains life. In response to the Honorable Myōmitsu’s sincere offering, he explains that by providing another with sustenance one obtains three kinds of benefit. To “sustain one’s own life,” “bring color to one’s face,” and “gain strength” might be thought of as the benefits enjoyed by the recipient of such offerings. The Daishonin, however, interprets them as the blessings that accrue to the donor. He also correlates these blessings with the three bodies of a Buddha.

Next, the Daishonin briefly recounts the history of Buddhism in Japan and proclaims that, in the Latter Day of the Law, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra, will without fail spread widely.

Nichiren Daishonin suggests in this letter that he is in fact fulfilling the mission of Bodhisattva Superior Practices entrusted by the Buddha, in that he has begun to chant and propagate Nam-myoho-renge-kyo before anyone else. He then declares that he alone reads the Lotus Sutra in a way that accords with the Buddha’s spirit and intention. The Daishonin voices his conviction that the difficulties he has endured serve to verify the truth of the Lotus Sutra and also confirm that he is the true sage whose appearance in the Latter Day of the Law was prophesied in the sutra.

In conclusion, the Daishonin declares that, although he alone has been chanting the daimoku, eventually the entire nation will chant it, just as a single speck of dust gives rise to Mount Sumeru, or a single drop of water grows to form the sea.