The Ryūsen-ji Petition Chapter1
ECHIGO-BŌ Nichiben and Shimotsuke-bō Nisshū, priests of Ryūsen-ji in Fuji Shimokata in Suruga Province, state as follows.
The deputy chief priest of the said temple, Hei no Sakon Nyūdō Gyōchi, hoping to conceal his own various offenses and keep them hidden, makes spurious and untruthful charges against us, charges that have no basis in fact. In the complaint he has brought, he states that Nisshū and Nichiben, calling themselves disciples of the priest Nichiren, claim that the sutras other than the Lotus Sutra and the practitioners of the True Word teachings are all ineffectual in bringing benefit either in one’s present existence or in the existences to come. (This is the gist of the charge.)
Regarding this matter, the Sage Nichiren, the true teacher of Nisshū and Nichiben, observing the great comet and great earthquake1 that had occurred since the beginning of the Shōka era, examined all the various sutras and came to this conclusion. Under present circumstances, Japan adheres to Hinayana or provisional sutras and fails to heed the true sutra. Therefore it will soon face two disasters that are like nothing known in previous times. These are the disaster of rebellion within the nation and the disaster of invasion by a foreign power.
Thinking of the welfare of the nation and of the need to take measures to deal with these two great disasters, in the Bunnō era he submitted a document in one scroll entitled On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land to the authorities. All the things that he predicted in that document have come true. Like the predictions regarding the future made by the golden mouth of the Buddha, fulfillment has come as invariably as an echo follows a sound.
A non-Buddhist work states, “A sage is one who fully understands those things that have not yet made their appearance.”2 And in the Buddhist writings it is said, “Wise men can perceive the cause of things, as snakes know the way of snakes.”3
In view of the situation, is it not clear that this teacher is a sage? And since this skilled leader is already present within the state, what need is there to seek such a treasure of the state abroad?
The non-Buddhist writings say, “When there is a sage in a neighboring country, this is a matter of concern to its enemies.”4 In a Buddhist text we read, “Where there is a sage in the land, the heavenly gods will invariably lend their protection.”5 And in another non-Buddhist text it is stated, “In the world, where there is a sage and wise ruler, there will invariably be worthy and enlightened ministers as well.”6
In the light of such passages, the fact that a sage is present in Japan should be a cause for great rejoicing in that country, and for great concern in the country of the Mongols. For the sage will dispatch his dragons to drown the enemy ships in the sea. He will call upon Brahmā and Shakra to capture the Mongol ruler!
Since the ruler of Japan is a worthy man, why does he not make use of this sage, instead of ineffectually worrying about the threat of a foreign power?
Background
This document from the priests Nisshū and Nichiben was submitted to the legal court of the Kamakura government in the tenth month of 1279. Later, it was titled The Ryūsen-ji Petition, but recent consideration of the format and content shows it is not a petition but a letter of vindication submitted to the government.
Nichiren Daishonin reviewed a draft of the document written by Toki Jōnin and revised it, substantially adding to the first part. The first half refers to matters of doctrine and the latter to details of fact.
This document was written during the Atsuhara Persecution. The Atsuhara Persecution refers to a series of oppressive acts and threats against followers of the Daishonin in Atsuhara Village of Fuji District, Suruga Province, that spanned nearly three years and culminated in the execution of three believers on the fifteenth day of the tenth month in 1279 (on the eighth day of the fourth month in 1280 by another account).
Around 1275, after the Daishonin had taken up residence at Minobu, propagation of his teachings began to progress substantially in the Fuji area under Nikkō’s leadership. At Ryūsen-ji, a temple of the Tendai school in Atsuhara, Nikkō converted several of the younger priests—including Shimotsuke-bō, Echigo-bō, and Shō-bō—who became the Daishonin’s disciples and took the names Nisshū, Nichiben, and Nichizen respectively. And these priests converted a number of local farmers. Alarmed at the p.828defection of the priests and lay supporters, Gyōchi, a lay priest and a member of the ruling Hōjō clan who acted as the deputy chief priest of the temple, used his connections with the authorities to suppress their activities and expel the converted priests from the temple. Hence the Daishonin oversaw the completion of the document to be submitted by Nisshū and Nichiben.
The text addresses the complaint Gyōchi has filed against them, countering his false charges. The complaint raises two major points and the text of the document can be divided into two parts accordingly.
The first part refers to the fact that the two calamities—revolt within one’s own domain and invasion from foreign lands—which the Daishonin had prophesized in his 1260 treatise On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land, have in fact come to pass, and asserts that the Daishonin should be regarded as a sage to whom the leadership should turn for the means to protect the nation. Then it points out the futility of True Word prayers conducted for the defeat of the Mongol forces, citing precedents from history. This part ends with the refutation of the provisional sutras, in particular the Amida Sutra.
The latter portion of the document seeks to expose the falsehood of the charges lodged by Gyōchi that a number of armed persons broke into his compound, reaped the rice crop, and carried it off to the compound occupied by Nisshū. In addition, it cites specific examples of Gyōchi’s unpriestly and criminal behavior such as instigating murder and hunting. Lastly, it calls on the authorities to make careful investigation of the charges in accordance with the Buddha’s teachings and the legal codes, and to dismiss Gyōchi from his position and allow Nisshū and Nichiben to occupy their assigned quarters. Such just actions in support of the practitioners of the correct teaching, it says, will bring peace and security to the country.
Notes
1. A reference to the huge comet that appeared in the seventh month of 1264 and the great earthquake that devastated the Kamakura area in the eighth month of 1257.
2. Exact source unknown, though statements of this kind are found often in works of early Chinese literature.
3. The Annotations on “The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra.”
4. Source unknown.
5. Source unknown, but chapter fourteen of the Lotus Sutra says, “The heavenly beings day and night will for the sake of the Law constantly guard and protect them [the votaries of the sutra].”
6. Source unknown.