Chanting Growers Group (2013-∞)

[SoCal Hippy]

Though numerous, the Japanese will find it difficult to accomplish anything,
because they are divided in spirit. In contrast, although Nichiren and his
followers are few, because they are different in body, but united in mind, they
will definitely accomplish their great mission of widely propagating the Lotus
Sutra.

(WND, 618)

Many in Body, One in Mind
Written to the lay priest Takahashi on August 6, year unknown

 

[SoCal Hippy]

The great lantern that illuminates the long night of the sufferings of birth and
death, the sharp sword that severs the fundamental darkness inherent in life, is
none other than the Lotus Sutra.

(WND, 1038)
A Comparison of the Lotus and Other Sutras
Written to Toki Jonin on May 26, 1280

 

[SoCal Hippy]

Faith in this sutra means that you will surely attain Buddhahood if you are true
to the entirety of the Lotus Sutra, adhering exactly to its teachings without
adding any of your own ideas or following the arbitrary interpretations of
others.

(WND, 1030)
Letter to Niike
Written to Niike Saemon-no-jo in February 1280

 

[SoCal Hippy]

Gandhi stressed the importance of being resolute in one's determinations: "A man
who says that he will do something 'as far as possible' betrays either his pride
or his weakness, though he himself may attribute it to his humility. There is,
in fact, not a trace of humility in such an attitude of mind." In short, he
asserts that someone who makes halfhearted pronouncements is either arrogant or
cowardly.


"The resolve to accomplish your goals is what counts. If you earnestly put your
mind to something, your brain, your body, your environment -- everything -- will
start working toward achieving that end."


"As human beings, let us reach beyond our small, limited selves and attain an
all-encompassing state of being, our hearts communing with the vast universe."

Quotes: Daisaku Ikeda

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Footnote: Bonz, great to see you still alive and kickin it! NMRK!

 

[Babbabud]

Nam myoho renge kyo !!

 

[easyDaimoku]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Saturday, February 15, 2014:

​

"All disciples and lay supporters of Nichiren should chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with the spirit of many in body but one in mind, transcending all differences among themselves to become as inseparable as fish and the water in which they swim. This spiritual bond is the basis for the universal transmission of the ultimate Law of life and death. Herein lies the true goal of Nichiren's propagation. When you are so united, even the great desire for widespread propagation can be fulfilled." ​

The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 217)
Written to Sairen-bo Nichijo on February 11, 1272

 

[easyDaimoku]

To My Friends by Daisaku Ikeda

To My Friends by Daisaku Ikeda

Please take utmost precautions
to prevent slipping and falling
while making your way through
snowdrifts and along frozen roads.(*)
Our “uncrowned friends” who deliver
the organizational newspaper should
make safety their priority.
(*)It snowed in many parts of Japan again yesterday on Valentine’s Day, including Tokyo, which got some 25 to 30 cm.

 

[easyDaimoku]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Friday, February 14, 2014:

​

"Whether you chant the Buddha's name, recite the sutra, or merely offer flowers and incense, all your virtuous acts will implant benefits and roots of goodness in your life. With this conviction you should strive in faith."



On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime

(The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 4)
Written to Toki Jonin in 1255

 

[BushyOldGrower]

Happy Day...

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo...

 

[SoCal Hippy]

I do not know whether these trials equal or surpass those of the Buddha. Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, T'ien-t'ai, and Dengyo, however, cannot compare with me in what they suffered. Had it not been for the advent of Nichiren in the Latter Day of the Law, the Buddha would have been a teller of great lies, and the testimony given by Many Treasures and by the Buddhas of the ten directions would have been false. In the 2,230 and more years since the Buddha's passing, Nichiren is the only person in the entire land of Jambudvipa who has fulfilled the Buddha's work.

(WND, 997)
On Persecutions befalling the Sage
Written to al followers (and entrusted to Shijo Kingo) on October 1, 1279

 

[SoCal Hippy]

One who, on hearing the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, makes even greater efforts in faith is a true seeker of the way. T'ien-t'ai states, "From the indigo, an even deeper blue." This passage means that, if one dyes something repeatedly in indigo, it becomes even bluer that the indigo leaves. The Lotus Sutra is like the indigo, and the strength of one's practice is like the deepening blue.

(WND, 457)
Hell Is the Land of Tranquil Light
Written to Nanjo Tokimitsu's mother on July 11, 1274

 

[SoCal Hippy]

"Never be shaken, no matter what happens or what others may say. Never be flustered; never lose confidence. This is the way we should strive to live our lives. Being able to do so is a sign of genuine character."

Quote: Daisaku Ikeda

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[easyDaimoku]

Repost to reinforce recent Gosho study I'm actively doing for myself

Repost to reinforce recent Gosho study I'm actively doing for myself

pgs. 164-168

(SGI President Ikeda and Soka Gakkai study department leaders Katsuji Saito, Takanori Endo, and Haruo Suda explore the profound meaning of the Lotus Sutra based on Nichiren Daishonin's lecture on the Lotus Sutra, "The Record of the Orally Transmited Teachings.")

Ikeda: Bodhisattva Superior Practices is actually a Buddha who is exerting himself at the level of Buddhist practice that enables one to attain enlightenment. In other words, he is the Buddha embodying the simultaneity of cause and effect.

The original Buddha whose life is without beginning or end could not be revealed without the appearance of Superior Practices. His emergence points to the existence of the “true Buddha of kuon ganjo,” the Buddha enlightened from time without beginning, which far surpasses the idea of an unimaginably remote time called “numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago.”

Suda: I am much clearer now on a number of points that were somewhat ambiguous.

This original Buddha whose life is without beginning or end is the Nam-myoho-renge-kyo Thus Come One that we refer to as the Buddha of absolute freedom of kuon ganjo or time without beginning.

Ikeda: That’s correct.

Suda: So it becomes clear that time without beginning in this context does not mean the remote past. It transcends the framework, indeed the very concept of time.

Ikeda: Yes, time without beginning is another name for life that is without beginning or end. It pertains, not to the doctrine of time, but to the doctrine of life.

The truth in the depths of life, the very life of the universe that continues to function ceaselessly, is referred to by the term time without beginning. This can also be called the “Thus Come One originally endowed with the three enlightened properties.”

Regarding the term “time without beginning” which in Japanese is kuon ganjo, the Daishonin says, “Kuon means neither created or adorned but remaining in one’s original state” (OTT, 141). “Not created” means inherently endowed; it does not indicate a specific point in time. “Not adorned” means not possessing the thirty-two features and eighty characteristics; it refers to ordinary people just as they are. “Remaining in one’s original state” means eternally existing.

Kuon signifies Nam-myoho-renge-kyo; it signifies the Gohonzon. When we pray to the Gohonzon, that very instant is beginningless time. For us, each day is beginningless time. Each day we can cause the supreme, pure, eternal life of time without beginning to well forth from our entire being. Each day we start anew from time without beginning, the starting point of life.

Saito: This is what it means to live based on the mystic principle of the true cause.

Ikeda: That’s why the present time is the most important. We should not dwell on the past; there is no need to do so. Those who exert themselves fully in the present moment and burn with great hope for the future are the true sages in life.

In transmitting the essence of the Lotus Sutra to Bodhisattva Superior Practices, Shakyamuni entrusts him with achieving kosen-rufu in the Latter Day of the Law. Therefore, when we stand up in earnest and work for the propagation of the eternal Mystic Law, we experience the eternity of time without beginning in each moment.

President Toda always regarded propagation of the Mystic Law as his personal responsibility, vowing to realize it without relying on anyone else. And he prayed that youth would rise up with the same great spirit of faith.

On one occasion before a gathering of about twenty youth, he suddenly called out in a powerful voice: “I will accomplish kosen-rufu!” He then had each person there repeat these words: One after another they fervently exclaimed, “I will achieve kosen-rufu by myself!” Some spoke with weak and unsure voices. Some were taken aback. And some later abandoned their faith. President Toda’s sole wish was for young people to stand up with the same determination that he himself cherished. This was his strict compassion. My feelings toward members of the youth division are exactly the same.

At any rate, although the doctrine concerning Bodhisattva Superior Practices is extremely difficult, since it is the very heart and essence of the Lotus Sutra, let’s pursue our investigation a little further.

Saito: So to confirm what we’ve covered so far, while the Lotus Sutra expounds the essential transmission from Shakyamuni as the Buddha enlightened since the remote past to Bodhisattva Superior Practices, the Law that is handed down is not the twenty-eight chapter Lotus Sutra, but the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo that is contained in the sutra’s depths.

Ikeda: That’s right. But I think the expression “handed down” may invite misunderstanding. Fundamentally, Bodhisattva Superior Practices is already an entity of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Since he has possessed this Law eternally, the purpose of the ceremony is merely to verify that he is qualified and charged with spreading Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in the Latter Day; it provides proof of his status.

Endo: Then if I may return once again to the analogy of inheritance of a family estate, it’s something like a document from the parent certifying the transference of assets.

Ikeda: I think you could say that. The “Supernatural Powers” chapter is the letter of certification. Compared to the Mystic Law itself, it is merely a shadow. To illustrate, let us say that a child receives ten million Yen form his parents. That would also be a kind of transmission. The ten million Yen is the essential teaching (body), and the certificate attesting that he has received it is the theoretical teaching (shadow). The difference between essential and theoretical is like day and night. This is also stated in the Daishonin’s writing, “The One Hundred and Six Comparisons.”

The Mystic Law which Shakyamuni received in the remote past when he was practicing the Bodhisattva Way at the level of hearing the name and the words of the truth is essential (the body), whereas Superior Practices and the others are theoretical (the shadow). The transmission of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra from beginningless time is the same as Nichiren’s present inheritance of the “Life Span” chapter.

This is complex. In essence Nichiren Daishonin says that since time without beginning, he—as a common mortal at the stage of hearing the name and the words of the truth—has been upholding the true Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, that is, the body or the essential teaching. From that standpoint, the ceremony involving Superior Practices and the other bodhisattvas is the shadow, or the theoretical teaching. The sutra is a prophesy; it is documentary proof authorizing the Daishonin to carry out widespread propagation of the Mystic Law.

The Nam-myoho-renge-kyo Thus Come One reflected on the canvas of the twenty-eight chapter Lotus Sutra manifests both as Shakyamuni who attained enlightenment in the remote past (the world of Buddhahood) and as Bodhisattva Superior Practices (the nine worlds). We must never forget that the Mystic Law is the “body,” and Bodhisattva Superior Practices is the “shadow.”

(TO BE CONTINUED)

I would highlight and underline the entirety of this post, but we are deserving and worthy of appreciating each word, paragraph and phrase as written. The wonderful joy this brings me and the moves I make for kosen-rufu is a cycle of joy.

Cheers to the medical marijuana movement in America, let's keep chanting for us to vigorously carry out kosen-rufu and chant for our friends and the friends of our friends. Chant for Gypsy Nirvana icmag's founding Gypsy. I always chant for my friends here and also your family, plus those you've asked me to chant for. Watching the olympics I think of our International friends, good friends in London, NorCal, SoCal, Italy, good old Scegy, Asia-Pac, everywhere really, so many nice friends from this thread and the original.

Like the Roar of the Lion - Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!

 

[easyDaimoku]

...for just a moment--this moment--is all that truly exists, and is shared by all things everywhere. And thanks to the latest “M” theory, ‘Beginningless Time’ (Kuon Ganjo) is in the process of being proven through study of the physical sciences. The research indicates that there are an INFINITE number of UNIVERSES, without beginning or end. But it all shares each moment, with us, each moment of each day for our whole lives. Though we rarely think of it, it is always there...one moment at a time....

Bowing in humble obeisance,

T

 

[easyDaimoku]

Buddha of beginningless time
[久遠元初の自受用身] ( Jpn kuonganjo-no-jijuyushin ) Also, eternal Buddha, original Buddha, or true Buddha. The Buddha who has been eternally endowed with the three bodies—the Dharma body, the reward body, and the manifested body, thereby embodying the eternal Law or the ultimate truth of life and the universe. This term appears in Nichiren's (1222-1282) writing given to his successor Nikkoand signed by Nichiren. Titled On the Mystic Principle of the True Cause, it refers to "the Mystic Law, uncreated and eternal, of the Buddha of beginningless time," and states that the Mystic Law lies in the depths of the "Life Span" (sixteenth) chapter of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra. Nichikan (1665-1726), the twenty-sixth chief priest of Taiseki-ji temple, identified Nichiren as that Buddha, based on the fact that Nichiren was the first to spread the Mystic Law. According to Nichiren, the Japanese term jijuyushin literally means the "body that is freely received and used." The Buddha of beginningless time is also called the Buddha of limitless joy—indicating the Buddha who freely derives boundless joy from the Law while enjoying absolute freedom, and who directly expounds the Law that he realized within his own life. In the "Life Span" chapter, Shakyamuni revealed his attainment of Buddhahood numberless major world system dust particle kalpas in the past. No matter how far in the past, however, it occurred at a fixed point in time and therefore is not eternal. Moreover, he did not clarify the Law or cause that enabled him to attain enlightenment at that time.In contrast, the Buddha of beginningless time is eternal and also represents eternal life endowed with both the nine worlds and Buddhahood. In The Opening of the Eyes, Nichiren states: "This is the doctrine of original cause and original effect. It reveals that the nine worlds are all present in beginningless Buddhahood and that Buddhahood is inherent in the beginningless nine worlds. This is the true mutual possession of the Ten Worlds, the true hundred worlds and thousand factors, the true three thousand realms in a single moment of life" (235). Here "original cause" refers to the "beginningless nine worlds," and "original effect" to "beginningless Buddhahood." What Nichiren defined as "the true three thousand realms in a single moment of life" is the original state of life. To manifest this state of life is the attainment of Buddhahood for all people. Nichiren established the practice that enables everyone to achieve this by inscribing the Gohonzon, or the object of devotion that embodies this original state of life, and prescribing the invocation of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. See also Buddha of limitless joy; true Buddha.

 

[easyDaimoku]

continual propagation to the fiftieth person
[五十展転] ( Jpn goju-ten-den ) A principle described in the "Benefits of Responding with Joy" (eighteenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra. This chapter describes the benefits of rejoicing upon hearing the Lotus Sutra. Suppose, the sutra says, that, after Shakyamuni Buddha's death, a person were to hear the Lotus Sutra and rejoice, then preach it to a second person, who also rejoices and in turn preaches it to a third, and so on, until a fiftieth person hears the sutra. The benefit this person receives by hearing the sutra and responding with joy, even fifty times removed from the first, would be immeasurable. Shakyamuni states that this benefit is far greater than that gained by a person who gives objects of amusement, gold, silver, other precious gems, carriages, palaces, and the like to all the beings in "four hundred ten thousand million asamkhya worlds," doing this for eighty years, and goes on to lead these beings to arhatship.
five guides for propagation
[五綱] (Jpn go-ko ) Five criteria for propagating Buddhism: (1) the teaching, (2) the people's capacity, (3) the time, (4) the country, and (5) the sequence of propagation. Nichiren (1222-1282) established these five guides as a standard to demonstrate the correct way to propagate his teaching of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in his time and in the future. They are set forth in his writings The Teaching, Capacity, Time, and Country andWhat It Means to Slander the Law. While Nichiren discusses the five guides in reference to what teaching one should propagate in Japan in his day, they are universally applicable. The five may be briefly explained as follows:
(1) A correct understanding of the teaching. This means to recognize the differences among the many Buddhist teachings and discern which are profound and which are superficial. Nichiren established the fivefold comparison for this purpose. Ultimately, to recognize that the Lotus Sutra stands supreme among all the sutras, and that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of the Three Great Secret Laws implicit in the "Life Span" (sixteenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra is the teaching that enables all people in the Latter Day of the Law to attain Buddhahood, is to have a correct understanding of the teaching.
(2) A correct understanding of the people's capacity. Capacity means the life-tendency of the people, the nature of their connection to Buddhism (or lack thereof), and their ability to understand and believe in the Buddhist teachings. In short, to understand the people's capacity means to know by what teaching they can attain Buddhahood. According to Nichiren, the people of Shakyamuni's time and of the Former Day and the Middle Day of the Law had already received the seed of Buddhahood from him in the remote past and nurtured it through Buddhist practice in previous existences. Therefore Shakyamuni's Lotus Sutra was the teaching most appropriate to benefit them by enabling them to reap the "harvest" of Buddhahood. In contrast, the people of the Latter Day have not yet received the seed of Buddhahood, and must therefore receive the seed of enlightenment by practicing the Buddhism of sowing. To recognize this is to have a correct understanding of the people's capacity.
(3) A correct understanding of the time. The development of Buddhism following Shakyamuni's death is divided into three periods, known as the Former Day, Middle Day, and Latter Day of the Law. The Former Day is the time in which Shakyamuni's teaching is transmitted correctly and leads many people to enlightenment. The Middle Day is the period in which, though Shakyamuni's teaching is practiced, the practice gradually becomes a formality and benefits fewer and fewer people. In the Latter Day, the teaching is obscured and lost, no longer leading people to enlightenment. Shakyamuni offered enlightenment for the people of the Latter Day, however. In the Lotus Sutra, he implied the teaching to be propagated in that age and the person who would propagate it. The Law that is to spread in this time period is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the essence of the Lotus Sutra, and the person who will spread it is Bodhisattva Superior Practices, the leader of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, to whom Shakyamuni has entrusted the task. To know this is to correctly understand the time. Nichiren regards himself as fulfilling the mission of Bodhisattva Superior Practices.
(4) A correct understanding of the country. This means to discern the nature of a particular nation's or society's connection to Buddhism. Nichiren states that some countries actively slander the correct teaching, some are completely ignorant of it, some are exclusively Hinayana, some exclusively Mahayana, and others both Hinayana and Mahayana. Japan is an exclusively Mahayana country, he says, that is filled with people who slander the correct teaching. He concludes, therefore, that the Mystic Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which can save all people including even those who oppose it, should be spread in Japan.
(5) A correct understanding of the sequence of propagation. The point of this criterion is that one should not propagate a teaching inferior to those that have already spread. Nichiren points out that in a country such as Japan, where the theoretical teaching (first half) of the Lotus Sutra has already been spread (by Dengyo, the founder of the Tendai school, during the Middle Day of the Law), the essential teaching (latter half) of the sutra—specifically, the teaching implicit in the "Life Span" chapter—should be propagated. To recognize this is to have a correct understanding of the sequence of propagation.

 

[easyDaimoku]

The Four Debts of Gratitude

The Four Debts of Gratitude

CONCERNING my present exile,1 there are two important matters that I must mention. One is that I feel immense joy. The reason is that this world is called the sahā world, sahā meaning endurance. This is why the Buddha is also called “One Who Can Endure.” In the sahā world,2 there are one billion Mount Sumerus, one billion suns and moons, and one billion groups of four continents. Among all these worlds, it was in the world at the center—with its Mount Sumeru, sun and moon, and four continents—that the Buddha made his advent. Japan is a tiny island country situated in a remote corner of that world, to the northeast of the country in which the Buddha appeared. Since all the lands in the ten directions, with the exception of this sahā world, are pure lands, their people, being gentlehearted, neither abuse nor hate the worthies and sages. In contrast, this world is inhabited by people who were rejected from the pure lands in the ten directions. They have committed the ten evil acts or the five cardinal sins, slandered the worthies and sages, and have been unfilial to their fathers and mothers or disrespectful to the monks. For these offenses they fell into the three evil paths, and only after dwelling there for countless kalpas were they reborn in this world. Yet the residue of the evil karma formed in their previous existences has not yet been eradicated, and they still tend to perpetrate the ten evil acts or the five cardinal sins, to revile the worthies and sages, and to be undutiful to their fathers and mothers or irreverent toward the monks.

For these reasons, when the Thus Come One Shakyamuni made his advent in this world, some people offered him food into which they had mixed poison. Others tried to harm him by means of swords and staves, mad elephants, lions, fierce bulls, or savage dogs. Still others charged him with violating women, condemned him as a man of lowly status, or accused him of killing. Again, some, when they encountered him, covered their eyes to avoid seeing him, and others closed their doors and shuttered their windows. Still others reported to the kings and ministers that he held erroneous views and was given to slandering exalted personages. These incidents are described in the Great Collection Sutra, the Nirvana Sutra, and other scriptures. The Buddha was innocent of all such evil deeds. Yet this world is peculiar or deficient in that those with bad karma are born into it and inhabit it in great numbers. Moreover, the devil king of the sixth heaven, scheming to prevent the people of this world from leaving it p.42for the pure lands, seizes every opportunity to carry out his perverse acts.

It appears that his scheming is ultimately intended to prevent the Buddha from expounding the Lotus Sutra. The reason is that the nature of this devil king is to rejoice at those who create the karma of the three evil paths and to grieve at those who form the karma of the three good paths.3 Yet he does not lament so greatly over those who form the karma of the three good paths, but he sorrows indeed at those who aspire to the three vehicles. Again, he may not sorrow so much over those who seek to attain the three vehicles, but he grieves bitterly at those who form the karma to become Buddhas and avails himself of every opportunity to obstruct them. He knows that those who hear even a single sentence or phrase of the Lotus Sutra will attain Buddhahood without fail and, exceedingly distressed by this, contrives various plots and restrains and persecutes believers in an attempt to make them abandon their faith.

Although the age in which the Buddha lived was certainly a defiled one, the five impurities had only just begun to manifest themselves; in addition, the devil stood in awe of the Buddha’s powers. Yet, even in a time when the people’s greed, anger, foolishness, and false views were still not rampant, a group of Brahmans of the Bamboo Staff school killed the Venerable Maudgalyāyana, who was known as the foremost in transcendental powers; and King Ajātashatru, by releasing a mad elephant, threatened the life of the only one in all the threefold world who is worthy of honor.4 Devadatta killed the nun Utpalavarnā, who had attained the state of arhat; and the Venerable Kokālika spread evil rumors about Shāriputra, who was renowned as the foremost in wisdom. How much worse things became in the world as the five impurities steadily increased! And now, in the latter age, hatred and jealousy toward those who believe even slightly in the Lotus Sutra will be all the more terrible. Thus the Lotus Sutra states, “Since hatred and jealousy toward this sutra abound even when the Thus Come One is in the world, how much more will this be so after his passing?”5 When I read this passage for the first time, I did not think that the situation would be as bad as it predicts. Now I am struck by the unfailing accuracy of the Buddha’s words, especially in light of my present circumstances.

I, Nichiren, do not observe the precepts with my body. Nor is my heart free from the three poisons. But since I believe in this [Lotus] sutra myself and also enable others to form a relationship with it, I had thought that perhaps society would treat me rather gently. Probably because the world has entered into the latter age, even monks who have wives and children have followers, as do priests who eat fish and fowl. I have neither wife nor children, nor do I eat fish or fowl. I have been blamed merely for trying to propagate the Lotus Sutra. Though I have neither wife nor child, I am known throughout the country as a monk who transgresses the code of conduct, and though I have never killed even a single ant or mole cricket, my bad reputation has spread throughout the realm. This may well resemble the situation of Shakyamuni Buddha, who was slandered by a multitude of non-Buddhists during his lifetime.

It seems that, solely because my faith in the Lotus Sutra accords slightly more with its teachings than does the faith of others, evil demons must have possessed their bodies and be causing them to feel hatred toward me. I am nothing but a lowly and ignorant monk without precepts. Yet, when I think that such a person should be mentioned in the Lotus Sutra, which was expounded more than two thousand years ago, and p.43that the Buddha prophesied that that person would encounter persecution, I cannot possibly express my joy.

It is already twenty-four or twenty-five years since I began studying Buddhism. Yet I have believed wholeheartedly in the Lotus Sutra only for the past six or seven years. Moreover, although I had faith in the sutra, because I was negligent and because of my studies and the interruptions of mundane affairs, each day I would recite only a single scroll, a chapter, or the title. Now, however, for a period of more than 240 days—from the twelfth day of the fifth month of last year to the sixteenth day of the first month of this year—I think I have practiced the Lotus Sutra twenty-four hours each day and night. I say so because, having been exiled on the Lotus Sutra’s account, I now read and practice it continuously, whether I am walking, standing, sitting, or lying down. For anyone born human, what greater joy could there be?

It is the way of ordinary people that, even though they spur themselves on to arouse the aspiration for enlightenment and wish for happiness in the next life, they exert themselves no more than one or two out of all the hours of the day, and this only after reminding themselves to do so. As for myself, I read the Lotus Sutra without having to remember to, and practice it even when I do not read its words aloud.

During the course of countless kalpas, while transmigrating through the six paths and the four forms of birth, I may at times have risen in revolt, committed theft, or broken into others’ homes at night and, on account of these offenses, been convicted by the ruler and condemned to exile or death. This time, however, it is because I am so firmly resolved to propagate the Lotus Sutra that people with evil karma have brought false charges against me; hence my exile. Surely this will work in my favor in future lifetimes. In this latter age, there cannot be anyone else who upholds the Lotus Sutra twenty-four hours of the day and night without making a deliberate effort to do so.

There is one other thing for which I am most grateful. While transmigrating in the six paths for the duration of countless kalpas, I may have encountered a number of sovereigns and become their favorite minister or regent. If so, I must have been granted fiefs and accorded treasures and stipends. Never once, however, did I encounter a sovereign in whose country the Lotus Sutra had spread, so that I could hear its name, practice it and, on that very account, be slandered by other people and have the ruler send me into exile. The Lotus Sutra states, “As for this Lotus Sutra, throughout immeasurable numbers of lands one cannot even hear its name, much less be able to see it, accept and embrace, read and recite it.”6 Thus those people who slandered me and the ruler [who had me banished] are the very persons to whom I owe the most profound debt of gratitude.

One who studies the teachings of Buddhism must not fail to repay the four debts of gratitude. According to the Contemplation on the Mind-Ground Sutra, the first of the four debts is that owed to all living beings. Were it not for them, one would find it impossible to make the vow to save innumerable living beings. Moreover, but for the evil people who persecute bodhisattvas, how could those bodhisattvas increase their merit?

The second of the four debts is that owed to one’s father and mother. To be born into the six paths, one must have parents. If one is born into the family of a murderer, a thief, a violator of the rules of proper conduct, or a slanderer of the Law, then even though one may not commit these offenses oneself, one in effect forms the same karma as those p.44who do. As for my parents in this lifetime, however, they not only gave me birth but made me a believer in the Lotus Sutra. Thus I owe my present father and mother a debt far greater than I would had I been born into the family of Brahmā, Shakra, one of the four heavenly kings, or a wheel-turning king, and so inherited the threefold world or the four continents, and been revered by the four kinds of believers in the worlds of human and heavenly beings.

The third is the debt owed to one’s sovereign. It is thanks to one’s sovereign that one can warm one’s body in the three kinds of heavenly light7 and sustain one’s life with the five kinds of grain8 that grow on earth. Moreover, in this lifetime, I have taken faith in the Lotus Sutra and encountered a ruler who will enable me to free myself in my present existence from the sufferings of birth and death. Thus, how can I dwell on the insignificant harm that he has done me and overlook my debt to him?

The fourth is the debt owed to the three treasures. When the Thus Come One Shakyamuni was engaged in bodhisattva practices for countless kalpas, he gathered all of the good fortune and virtue he had gained thereby, divided it into sixty-four parts, and took on their merit. Of these sixty-four, he reserved only one part for himself. The remaining sixty-three parts he left behind in this world, making a vow as follows: “There will be an age when the five impurities will become rampant, erroneous teachings will flourish, and slanderers will fill the land. At that time, because the innumerable benevolent guardian deities will be unable to taste the flavor of the Law, their majesty and strength will diminish. The sun and moon will lose their brightness, the heavenly dragons will not send down rain, and the earthly deities will decrease the fertility of the soil. The roots and stalks, branches and leaves, flowers and fruit will all lose their medicinal properties as well as the seven flavors.9 Even those who became kings because they had observed the ten good precepts in previous lifetimes will grow in greed, anger, and foolishness. The people will cease to be dutiful to their parents, and the six kinds of relatives10 will fall into disaccord. At such a time, my disciples will consist of unlearned people without precepts. For this reason, even though they shave their heads, they will be forsaken by the tutelary deities and left without any means of subsistence. It is in order to sustain these monks and nuns [that I now leave these sixty-three parts behind].”

Moreover, as for the benefits that the Buddha had attained as a result of his practices, he divided them into three parts, of which he himself made use of only two. For this reason, although he was to have lived in this world until the age of 120, he passed away after eighty years, bequeathing the remaining forty years of his life span to us.11

Even if we should gather all the water of the four great oceans to wet inkstones, burn all the trees and plants to make ink sticks, collect the hairs of all beasts for writing brushes, employ all the surfaces of the worlds in the ten directions for paper, and, with these, set down expressions of gratitude, how could we possibly repay our debt to the Buddha?

Concerning the debt owed to the Law, the Law is the teacher of all Buddhas. It is because of the Law that the Buddhas are worthy of respect. Therefore, those who wish to repay their debt to the Buddha must first repay the debt they owe to the Law.

As for the debt owed to the Buddhist Order, both the treasure of the Buddha and the treasure of the Law are invariably perpetuated by the Order. To illustrate, without firewood, there can be no fire, and if there is no earth, p.45trees and plants cannot grow. Likewise, even though Buddhism existed, without the members of the Order who studied it and passed it on, it would never have been transmitted throughout the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days into the Latter Day of the Law. Accordingly, the Great Collection Sutra states: “Suppose that, in the last of the five five-hundred-year periods, there should be someone who harasses unlearned monks without precepts by accusing them of some offense. You should know that this person is extinguishing the great torch of Buddhism.” Therefore, the debt we owe to the Order is difficult to recompense.

Thus it is imperative that one repay one’s debt of gratitude to the three treasures. In ancient times, there were sages such as the boy Snow Mountains, Bodhisattva Ever Wailing, Bodhisattva Medicine King, and King Universal Brightness, all of whom [offered their lives in order to make such repayment]. The first offered his body as food to a demon. The second sold his own blood and marrow. The third burned his arms, and the fourth was ready to part with his head. Ordinary people in this latter age, however, though receiving the benefits of the three treasures, completely neglect to repay them. How, then, can they attain the Buddha way? The Contemplation on the Mind-Ground, the Brahmā Net, and other sutras state that those who study Buddhism and receive the precepts of perfect and immediate enlightenment must repay the four debts of gratitude without fail. I am but an ignorant ordinary person made of flesh and blood; I have not rid myself of even a fraction of the three categories of illusion. Yet, on account of the Lotus Sutra, I have been reviled, slandered, attacked with swords and staves, and sent into exile. In light of these persecutions, I believe I may be likened to the great sages who burned their arms, crushed their marrow, or did not begrudge being beheaded. This is what I mean by immense joy.

The second of the two important matters is that I feel intense grief. The fourth volume of the Lotus Sutra states: “If there should be an evil person who, his mind destitute of goodness, should for the space of a kalpa appear in the presence of the Buddha and constantly curse and revile the Buddha, that person’s offense would still be rather light. But if there were a person who spoke only one evil word to curse or defame the lay persons or monks or nuns who read and recite the Lotus Sutra, then his offense would be very grave.”12 When I read this and similar passages, my belief is aroused, sweat breaks out from my body, and tears fall from my eyes like rain. I grieve that, by being born in this country, I have caused so many of its people to create the worst karma possible in a lifetime. Those who beat and struck Bodhisattva Never Disparaging came to repent of it while they were alive; yet, even so, their offenses were so difficult to expiate that they fell into the Avīchi hell and remained there for a thousand kalpas. But those who have done me harm have not yet repented of it even in the slightest.

Describing the karmic retribution that such people must receive, the Great Collection Sutra states: “[The Buddha asked], ‘If there should be a person who draws blood from the bodies of a thousand, ten thousand, or a million Buddhas, in your thinking, how is it? Will he have committed a grave offense or not?’ The great king Brahmā replied: ‘If a person causes the body of even a single Buddha to bleed, he will have committed an offense so serious that he will fall into the hell of incessant suffering. His offense will be unfathomably grave, and he will have to remain in the great Avīchi hell for so many kalpas that their number p.46cannot be calculated even by means of counting sticks. Graver still is the offense a person would commit by causing the bodies of ten thousand or a million Buddhas to bleed. No one could possibly explain in full either that person’s offense or its karmic retribution—no one, that is, except the Thus Come One himself.’ The Buddha said, ‘Great King Brahmā, suppose there should be a person who, for my sake, takes the tonsure and wears a surplice. Even though he has not at any time received the precepts and therefore observes none, if someone harasses him, abuses him, or strikes him with a staff, then that persecutor’s offense will be even graver than that [of injuring ten thousand or a million Buddhas].’”

Nichiren

The sixteenth day of the first month in the second year of Kōchō (1262), cyclical sign mizunoe-inu

To Kudō Sakon-no-jō

The Four Debts of Gratitude (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin) pgs 41-47





Background


Nichiren Daishonin wrote this letter while he was in exile in Itō on the Izu Peninsula. It was addressed to Kudō Sakon-no-jō Yoshitaka, known also as Kudō Yoshitaka, the lord of Amatsu in Awa Province.
Kudō Yoshitaka is said to have converted to Nichiren Daishonin’s teachings around 1256, about the same time Shijō Kingo and Ikegami Munenaka did, a few years after the Daishonin first proclaimed his teachings. While the Daishonin was in exile on Izu, Yoshitaka sent offerings to him and continued to maintain pure faith. He was killed defending the Daishonin at the time of the Komatsubara Persecution in the eleventh month of 1264. The Four Debts of Gratitude is the only letter still extant that the Daishonin addressed to him.
In this letter, in light of the reason for his banishment, Nichiren Daishonin expresses his conviction that he is a true practitioner of the Lotus Sutra. He mentions the “two important matters” that concern his Izu Exile. He states, “One is that I feel immense joy,” and explains the reasons for his joy. The greater part of the letter consists of this explanation. Following this, he states, “The second of the two important matters is that I feel intense grief.” Citing passages from the Lotus and Great Collection sutras that reveal the gravity of the offense of slandering the Law and its devotees, the Daishonin explains that he grieves at the thought of the great karmic retribution his tormentors must undergo. This is the concluding part of the letter.
In the body of the letter, the Daishonin gives two reasons for his “immense joy.” One is that he has been able to prove himself to be the votary of the Lotus Sutra by fulfilling the Buddha’s prediction made in the sutra that its votary in the Latter Day of the Law will meet with persecution. The other reason is that, by suffering banishment for the sutra’s sake, he can repay the four debts of gratitude. He declares that the ruler who condemned him to exile is the very person to whom he is the most grateful; thanks to the ruler, he has been able to fulfill the words of the Lotus Sutra and so prove himself to be its true votary.
Then, the Daishonin stresses the importance of repaying the four debts of gratitude set forth in the Contemplation on the Mind-Ground Sutra. p.47The four debts of gratitude are the debts owed to all living beings, to one’s father and mother, to one’s sovereign, and to the three treasures—the Buddha, the Law, and the Buddhist Order. Among these four debts of gratitude, the Daishonin places special emphasis on the debt owed to the three treasures, without which one could not attain Buddhahood.


Notes


1. Reference is to the Daishonin’s exile to Itō on the Izu Peninsula, from the twelfth day of the fifth month, 1261, to the twenty-second day of the second month, 1263.
2. Here “the sahā world” indicates the major world system that surrounds our world.
3. The three good paths are those of asuras, human beings, and heavenly beings, in contrast to the three evil paths of hell, hungry spirits, and animals.
4. The story of Ajātashatru is included as one of the nine great persecutions suffered by Shakyamuni.
5. Lotus Sutra, chap. 10.
6. Ibid., chap. 14.
7. The light of the sun, moon, and stars.
8. Wheat, rice, beans, and two types of millet. Also a generic term for all grains.
9. Sweet, pungent, sour, bitter, salty, astringent, and subtle flavors.
10. The six kinds of relatives refer to a father, a mother, an elder brother, a younger brother, a wife, and a son or daughter. Another classification gives a father, a son or daughter, an elder brother, a younger brother, a husband, and a wife.
11. The source of this statement has not been traced; presumably it is based on a passage in the Great Collection Sutra.
12. Lotus Sutra, chap. 10.

 

[CrazyDog]

Aspire for the very best, for the very highest!
Take action, starting from right where your feet are now!
Clearly articulate your focus points of your daimoku
and take one level-headed and at the same time powerful step in the direction you aspire to.
Through such a practice, let's adorn our life with good fortune, fulfilment and supreme happiness.

 

[SoCal Hippy]

Each of you should summon up the courage of a lion king and never succumb to threats from anyone. The lion king fears no other beast, nor do its cubs. Slanderers are like barking foxes, but Nichiren's followers are like roaring lions.

(WND, 997)
On Persecutions Befalling the Sage
Written to all followers (and entrusted to Shijo Kingo) on October 1, 1279

 

[SoCal Hippy]

Our contemporaries think of the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo
only as a name, but this is not correct. It is the essence, that is,
the heart of the Lotus Sutra... Those who seek the heart of the
sutra apart from its title are as foolish as the turtle who sought
the monkey's liver outside the monkey, or the monkey who left the
forest and sought fruit on the seashore.

(WND, 861)
"This Is What I Heard"
Written to the lay priest Soya Jiro on November 28, 1277