Chapter5(Demonstrating That the Lord’s Trust Is Due to the Lotus Sutra)
Main Text
Ryūzō-bō and your elder brother plotted evil against you. Therefore, the heavenly gods so contrived it that the situation would develop exactly as you wished. Then how can you now dare to go against the wish of the heavenly gods? Even if you had accumulated a thousand or ten thousand treasures, of what use would they be if your lord should forsake you? He already looks to you as if you were his own parent, following you as water follows the shape of its container, longing for you as a calf longs for its mother, and relying on you as an elderly person relies on his staff. Is not his regard for you due to the aid of the Lotus Sutra? How envious your fellow retainers must be! You must hurry and talk with these four men and report to me how the matter goes. Then I will fervently pray to the heavenly gods for your protection. I have already informed them of how deeply you grieve over your deceased father and mother. They will surely receive the utmost consideration in the presence of Shakyamuni Buddha.
Lecture
The fact that those who opposed Shijo Kingo were defeated and his lord, Lord Ema, has come to rely on him have all come about through the arrangement of the heavenly gods. Therefore, if Kingo were to act hot-temperedly now, he would ruin what the heavenly gods have arranged for him. Moreover, being abandoned by one’s lord represents a defeat as a human being. The Daishonin offers even more specific guidance along these lines. In this section, we are specifically taught the importance of treasuring each and every victory we have accumulated so far.
“Even if you had accumulated a thousand or ten thousand treasures, of what use would they be if your lord should forsake you?”
To be “forsaken by one’s lord” means to lose the trust of his master, Lord Ema. For someone like Shijo Kingo who served a feudal master, “lord” refers to a specific feudal lord. However, in a broader, modern sense, the “lord” (or superior) refers to society itself. Therefore, being “forsaken by one’s lord” should be understood as losing societal trust. In other words, this passage teaches that gaining societal trust—being trusted by society as an individual—is far more important than possessing material wealth. No matter how vast a fortune one accumulates, a person who lacks the trust of others in society lives a lonely life. Being trusted by others brings genuine spiritual richness. Material abundance alone never directly produces spiritual richness. While material wealth can certainly support spiritual richness to a certain degree, true spiritual fulfillment is brought about not by material possessions, but by the human heart and mind. This is precisely why “societal trust” is emphasized here.
“You must hurry and talk with these four men and report to me how the matter goes. Then I will fervently pray to the heavenly gods for your protection.”
As previously noted, “these four men” refers to those who had lost their positions due to their faith and were serving as Shijo Kingo’s personal bodyguards. They were, in effect, comrades sharing life and death with Kingo. While the Daishonin was praying for Kingo’s safety, it was essential that Kingo and these men, who stood by his side through thick and thin, were united in spirit—“many in body, one in mind.” For this reason, the Daishonin instructed Kingo to converse with them, forge strong heart-to-heart bonds, and report back to him. This guidance brings to mind the famous passage from Many in Body, One in Mind: “If many in body, but one in mind, they achieve all their goals.”