Chapter6(On “I Would Rather Go to Hell with You”)
Main Text
Over and over I recall the moment, unforgettable even now, when I was about to be beheaded and you accompanied me, holding the reins of my horse and weeping tears of grief.7 Nor could I ever forget it in any lifetime to come. If you should fall into hell for some grave offense, no matter how Shakyamuni Buddha might urge me to become a Buddha, I would refuse; I would rather go to hell with you. For if you and I should fall into hell together, we would find Shakyamuni Buddha and the Lotus Sutra there. It would be as if the moon were illuminating the darkness, as if cold water were pouring into hot, as if fire were melting ice, or as if the sun were dispelling the darkness. But if you depart from my advice even slightly, do not blame me for what may happen.
The plague that is raging at present will, as you predict, strike those in the higher ranks of society at the turn of the year. This is perhaps the design of the ten demon daughters. For the time being stay calm, and observe how things develop.
Notes
7. Reference is to the Tatsunokuchi Persecution of 1271, when the Daishonin was almost beheaded.
Lecture
In response to the sincerity Shijo Kingo demonstrated toward Nichiren Daishonin during the Tatsunokuchi Persecution, the Daishonin expresses his heartfelt sentiment, stating that if Shijo Kingo were to fall into hell, he himself would go there with him. This reveals his immeasurable compassion for his disciple. At the same time, it demonstrates his supreme conviction as the True Buddha, declaring that if the Daishonin were to go to hell with Shijo Kingo, Shakyamuni Buddha and the Lotus Sutra would also be there, and therefore, hell itself would become the Land of Eternally Tranquil Light.
“If you should fall into hell for some grave offense, no matter how Shakyamuni Buddha might urge me to become a Buddha, I would refuse; I would rather go to hell with you.”
In response to the sincerity Shijo Kingo showed when the Daishonin was facing persecution, the Daishonin is now demonstrating that same sincerity while Shijo Kingo is undergoing severe trials. Here we see an exchange of genuine sincerity between individuals standing on equal ground as human beings. In feudal lord-vassal or master-disciple relationships, lords and masters demand absolute sincerity and loyalty from their subordinates and disciples, but they do not sacrifice themselves for the hardships their subordinates face. The Daishonin’s view of the mentor-disciple relationship is fundamentally different. Both stand on a foundation of equality as human beings and dedicate their utmost sincerity to one another. We must recognize that herein lies the great spirit of Buddhism, which is rooted in human dignity.
Moreover, this passage clearly demonstrates that the bond of mentor and disciple means not only the disciple’s devoted compliance to the mentor—thinking, “If my mentor goes to hell, I will go to hell too”—but also the mentor’s deep compassion for the disciple, thinking, “If my disciple goes to hell, I will go to hell too.” When both of these are combined, it can be called the true oneness of mentor and disciple. A master unilaterally demanding devotion from a disciple and forcing their own selfish will upon them reflects a narrow, feudalistic view of the master-disciple relationship, not the Buddhist perspective of mentor and disciple.
Furthermore, this relationship must be backed by the conviction that it is fundamentally based on the correct Law, to the extent that one can declare, “I will not yield unless my teachings are refuted by a person of wisdom.” If a master is clearly embracing an erroneous Buddhist teaching, the true path of a disciple is not to blindly follow, but to seek the correct Law and, in turn, guide the master to the true teaching. This was exactly the relationship the Daishonin established with his own teacher, Dozen-bo. If Buddhism merely prioritized a conventional master-disciple relationship above all else, it would have been impossible for the Daishonin to leave Dozen-bo’s side. In any case, the mentor-disciple relationship exists for the purpose of mastering the correct Law. In the pursuit of this Law, mentor and disciple are equal, completely united, and “not two” (funi).
“For if you and I should fall into hell together, we would find Shakyamuni Buddha and the Lotus Sutra there.”
These words conceal his fierce conviction as the True Buddha. It does not merely mean that “Shakyamuni Buddha and the Lotus Sutra exist” wherever there is a pure pledge between mentor and disciple. No matter how deep and pure the bond between Honen and his disciples might have been, their destination was hell, and what awaited them were the wardens of hell. Because it is the Daishonin and Shijo Kingo who uphold the Mystic Law, even if their destination were hell, Shakyamuni Buddha and the Lotus Sutra would surely accompany them. Consequently, such a hell could no longer be hell; it would become the Pure Land of Eternally Tranquil Light. This embodies the principle: “Because the Law is wonderful, the person is worthy of respect; because the person is worthy of respect, the land is sacred.”
This also demonstrates that the realms of hell and Buddhahood are not fixed, designated places. Rather, they are nothing more than reflections of the lives of the living beings who dwell there, and the state of those beings’ lives is determined by the Law they uphold. In other words, this passage can be reverently read as revealing a facet of this principle from the perspective of the Buddhist philosophy of life.