The Reconstruction of HachimanShrine Chapter1
IHAVE been preaching this doctrine now for twenty-nine years. My body is worn out and my spirit suffers from the daily debates, monthly persecutions, and two exiles. That is why for the last seven or eight years illnesses of aging have assailed me yearly, though none has led to a crisis. This year, however, from the first month on my body has weakened considerably, and I have the feeling that my life is drawing to a close. Besides, I am already sixty years old. Even if there were a slight chance I might survive this year, how could I possibly live another year or two?
“Good advice grates on the ear, and good medicine tastes bitter” are the words of wise men of times past. It is said that a person who is wasting away hates life, and that flatterers never accept remonstrance.
Recently, I have not replied to anyone, whether high or low. The reason is that I feel listless and my hand is heavy. But since this is a serious matter, I think I will bear with my pains and reply. Though you may not care for this letter, I hope you will take it to heart. I beg that you do not respond as Emperor Murakami did when he threw away the document written by Imperial Prince Kaneakira.1
Background
Nichiren Daishonin wrote this letter on the twenty-sixth day of the fifth month in 1281 at Minobu. It was addressed to the Ikegami brothers, Tayū no Sakan and Hyōe no Sakan, or Munenaka and Munenaga, who were living in Musashi Province at the time. The brothers had written the Daishonin to express their disappointment that they had not been given an expected appointment to a post to rebuild Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura. The shrine had suffered extensive damage in two fires the previous year, and the brothers, who following in their father’s footsteps were engaged in government-sponsored building projects, would normally have been put in charge of this reconstruction work.
The Daishonin first writes that he has been spreading his teaching for twenty-nine years, and in that time he has encountered numerous persecutions, including two exiles. As a result, he has been suffering from exhaustion of both body and spirit, and illnesses of aging, for the past seven or eight years. Being now sixty years old, he says, he can have only one or two years at the most to live. Thus for some time he has not been replying to letters from anyone, whatever their station in society. But as this is clearly a matter of great importance to the brothers, he says that he will bear up and write.
Pointing out that because the brothers and their father have been able to serve in the government establishment for two generations, he says that they are actually indebted to the ruler. Thus a single incident where developments were contrary to their wishes hardly justifies anger or resentment. Moreover, if they had indeed been ordered to join the project, had they been wise, they would have refused. The Daishonin explains that the very fact of the fire itself shows that all the protective deities have abandoned the nation. Thus, no amount of rebuilding will protect the nation from attack by other lands.
Furthermore, the Daishonin suggests, if Japan is attacked and the brothers had overseen the rebuilding of Hachiman Shrine, people would blame them and their devotion to the Daishonin for the lack of Great Bodhisattva Hachiman’s protection. The heavens surely understood this and arranged matters so that the brothers would not be called on to assist in the project. In closing, he directs them to show no ill feeling whatsoever, but to keep a smiling countenance, remain inconspicuous, and apply themselves to their work. Finally, he urges them never to hold a grudge against the Lotus Sutra.
Notes
1. Murakami (926–967) was the sixty-second emperor, and Imperial Prince Kaneakira (914–987) was his elder brother. Kaneakira presented to Emperor Murakami a work he had written in which he deplored the arbitrary actions of the authorities as well as his own adverse circumstances.