I am praying that, no matter how troubled the times may become, the Lotus Sutra and the ten demon daughters will protect all of you, praying as earnestly as though to produce fire from damp wood, or to obtain water from parched ground. There are many other matters to discuss, but I will close here.
On Rebuking Slander of the Lawand Eradicating Sins
IHAVE read your letter carefully. In the past as well, when I was exiled to the province of Izu on account of the Lotus Sutra, I rejoiced at heart, though, when I say so, I suppose people will think that I am speaking immodestly.
If, since the beginningless past, I had ever incurred blame for the sake of the Lotus Sutra, whether I was sincerely devoted to it or not, would I then have been born in this lifetime as a mere ordinary mortal? [Therefore, when I was condemned to exile,] though I felt downcast for a while, seeing that it was for the sake of the Lotus Sutra, I was also delighted, for I thought that I might thereby eradicate to some small extent the offenses of my previous existences. However, the various grave sins of the ten evil acts, the four major offenses, the six major offenses, the eight major offenses, the ten major offenses, the five sins1 that condemn one to the hell of incessant suffering, the slander of the correct teaching, and the sin of incorrigible disbelief accumulated since the beginningless past must stand taller than a huge mountain, run deeper than the great sea.
When it comes to the five cardinal sins, the commission of even one of them will condemn one to the hell of incessant suffering for the space of an entire kalpa. A kalpa is the length of time it takes for the life span of human beings to decrease from eighty thousand years to ten years, decreasing at the rate of one year every hundred years, and then to increase again to eighty thousand years at the same rate.2 One who murders one’s parent will fall into the hell of incessant suffering and undergo its terrible pain without a moment’s respite for such a period of time.
～（omitted) ～
If we go by the Lotus Sutra and the commentary of Chang-an, then Nichiren is a compassionate father and mother to all the people of Japan. Heaven may be lofty, but it has keen ears with which to hear. Earth may be thick, but it has sharp eyes with which to observe. Heaven and earth by now know [how the situation stands]. And yet I, who am father and mother to all people, am cursed and reviled and sent into exile. The abuses of government that have taken place in this country in the past two or three years are such as have never been heard of in former ages, and exceed all bounds of reason.
In your letter you mentioned your filial devotion to your deceased mother. Reading it, I was so moved that I could barely hold back my tears.
Long ago in China there were five young men, one of whom was Yüan-chung.32 They had originally been strangers from different districts and had different surnames, but they took a vow to be brothers and never turned against one another, and in time they amassed three thousand treasures.
All the young men were orphans, and, grieved over this fact, when they met an old woman along the road, they decided to honor her as their mother. They did so for twenty-four years, never going against her wishes in the slightest.
Then the mother suddenly fell ill and was unable to speak. The five sons p.443gazed up at the sky and said: “Our efforts to care for our mother have not been appreciated, and she has been seized by an illness that prevents her from speaking. If heaven will grant our filial feelings any recognition, we pray that it will restore to her the power of speech.”
At that time the mother spoke, saying to her five sons: “In past times I was the daughter of a man named Yang Meng of the district of T’ai-yüan. I was married to Chang Wen-chien of the same district, who has since died. We had a son named Wu-i. When he was seven, rebellion broke out in the area, and I do not know what became of him. You, my five sons, have taken care of me for twenty-four years, but I have never told you of this. My son Wu-i had markings like the seven stars of the Big Dipper on his chest, and on the sole of his right foot he had a black mole.” When she had finished saying this, she died.
As the five sons were accompanying her body to the burial ground, they encountered the magistrate of the district along the road. The magistrate had happened to drop a bag containing important documents, and the five young men were accused of stealing it, arrested, and bound. When the magistrate confronted them, he demanded, “Who are you?” whereupon the five young men told him all they had learned from their mother.
When he heard this, the magistrate almost toppled from his seat, gazing up at the heavens, then bowing to the earth in tears. He freed the five men from their bonds, led them to his seat, and said, “I am Wu-i, and it was my mother you cared for! For these past twenty-four years I have known many pleasures, but because I could never stop thinking about my beloved mother, they were never real pleasures to me.” In time he presented the five men to the ruler of the country, and each was appointed to be the head of a prefecture.
In this way, even strangers were rewarded when they came together and treated someone as a parent. How much more so will be the case with actual brothers and sisters when they kindly take care of their own father and mother! How could heaven possibly fail to approve?
Pure Storehouse and Pure Eye used the Lotus Sutra to lead their father, who held erroneous views, to enlightenment. Devadatta was an enemy of the Buddha and was condemned by the sutras preached during the first forty and more years of the Buddha’s teaching life. The moment of his death was terrifying: the earth split open, and he fell into the hell of incessant suffering. But in the Lotus Sutra he was summoned back and received the prediction that he would become the Thus Come One Heavenly King. King Ajātashatru killed his father, but just before the Buddha entered nirvana, he heard the teachings of the Lotus Sutra and was able to escape the great sufferings of the Avīchi hell.
This province of Sado is like a realm of beasts. Moreover, it is filled with Hōnen’s disciples, who hate me a hundred, thousand, ten thousand, million times more than did the people of Kamakura. I am never certain whether I am going to survive the day. But thanks to the warm support of both of you, I have managed to sustain my life thus far. When I consider this, I suppose that, since Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the Buddhas and great bodhisattvas of the ten directions all make offerings and pay reverence to the Lotus Sutra, these Buddhas and bodhisattvas must be informing your parents each hour of the night and day that you are assisting me. And the fact that you now enjoy your lord’s favor must also be due to your parents’ merciful protection.
Do not think of your siblings as siblings. Just think of them as your own children. It is true that among children there are those like the young of the owl, which are said to eat their own mother, or like the offspring of the hakei beast, which watch for a chance to devour their own father. Though your own son, Shirō,33 takes care of his parents, if he is a bad person, perhaps there is nothing to be done. However, even a stranger, if you open up your heart to him, may be willing to lay down his life for you. So, if you treat your younger brothers as though they were your own sons, they may become your allies for life, and of course it will make a favorable impression on others as well. And if you likewise think of your younger sisters as daughters, then why would they not respond with filial devotion?
When I was exiled to this place, I assumed that no one would come to visit me. But I have no fewer than seven or eight persons with me here, and if it were not for your consideration, I do not know how we could manage to keep the whole group in provisions. I am certain that this is all because the characters of the Lotus Sutra have taken possession of your bodies in order to give us aid. I am praying that, no matter how troubled the times may become, the Lotus Sutra and the ten demon daughters will protect all of you, praying as earnestly as though to produce fire from damp wood, or to obtain water from parched ground. There are many other matters to discuss, but I will close here.
Nichiren
Reply to Shijō Kingo
Background
Nichiren Daishonin wrote this letter on Sado Island in 1273 to his devoted follower Shijō Kingo, who lived in Kamakura. Though in exile, the Daishonin says in this letter that his overriding emotion is one of joy. He has been banished precisely because he denounced the errors of those who slander the Lotus Sutra. Because he has met this great trial for the sutra’s sake, the Daishonin explains, he is certain to thereby eradicate in this lifetime his evil karma accumulated since the distant past. This is the principle of “rebuking slander of the Law and eradicating sins” referred to in the letter’s title.
The Daishonin goes on to explain that when Shakyamuni Buddha preached the Lotus Sutra he transferred the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo, the essence of his teaching, only to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. Though the Daishonin does not state so here directly, he implies that he is the very one carrying out the task of these Bodhisattvas of the Earth in propagating the essence of the Lotus Sutra.
The Daishonin subsequently likens himself to Never Disparaging, a bodhisattva appearing in the Lotus Sutra who revered all people as future Buddhas and met with abuse as a result. The fact that the Daishonin meets persecution just as Bodhisattva Never Disparaging did for the sake of the Lotus Sutra indicates that he is the sutra’s votary in the Latter Day of the Law.
The text then raises a question: In On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land, the Daishonin interpreted the disasters befalling the country as the effect of widespread belief in misleading teachings. Now he interprets them as omens of the spread of the Lotus Sutra. How are these two views to be reconciled? The Daishonin makes clear that no fundamental contradiction exists. On the one hand, when the time comes for the propagation of the Lotus Sutra, disasters arise when people persist in clinging to provisional teachings that no longer suit the times. On the other hand, when the votary of the Lotus Sutra who is to propagate its teaching points out such errors and is persecuted as a consequence, great calamities are sure to result. The Daishonin adds that in denouncing the errors of other schools he has acted solely out of the bodhisattva spirit of compassion, as expressed by Chang-an: “One who rids the offender of evil is acting as his parent.”
In the final part of the letter, the Daishonin praises Shijō Kingo’s devotion to his deceased mother, and explains that such filial conduct will never fail to be rewarded. He concludes with expressions of gratitude to Shijō Kingo and his family, whose offerings have helped the Daishonin and his companions survive under the harsh conditions of banishment on Sado.