Now, in ancient times there lived a monk among the Buddha’s disciples. Once during a famine, as the Buddha did not have enough to eat, this monk sold his own kesa stole and donated the money to the Buddha. The Buddha was curious about the donation and thus asked the monk for details. The monk explained. The Buddha then declined to accept the offering by saying, “A Buddhist priest’s stole is the canonical robe in which various Buddhas in the past, present, and future lives gain emancipation. I do not think I can repay such a great favor which was gained by selling such a precious robe.” The monk then asked the Buddha what he should do with the money for the kesa stole he sold. The Buddha asked in return whether or not the monk had a mother. “Yes, I have,” answered the monk. The Buddha then told the monk that he should offer the money to his own mother. The monk then said to the Buddha, “The Buddha is the Most Venerable One in the triple world. You are the eyes of all living beings. You are able to repay the money of a great canonical robe that may cover all the worlds in the universe or a wide kesa stole that may spread over the great earth. On the contrary, my mother is as ignorant as cattle and more hopeless than a sheep. How will she be able to repay the indebtedness of offering a kesa stole?” In response, the Buddha carefully questioned the monk, “Who gave birth to you? Isn’t it your mother who gave birth to you? There is no doubt that she will be able to repay the indebtedness of this kesa stole.”

Toki-dono Gohenji, Response to Lord Toki, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Pages 6-7

The Buddha Śākyamuni is the father of the world, but your mother is your mother. I will save this for Mother’s Day.

A passage composed of the 28 Chinese characters that states, “The Lotus Sūtra is good medicine for the diseases of people of the Jambudvipa; if a patient can hear this sūtra, his disease will disappear at once, and he will neither grow old nor die,” is taken from the “Medicine King Bodhisattva” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra. When Nichiren’s wet nurse who had a serious illness for about a year died, Nichiren Shōnin chanted this passage and placed it in her mouth with pure water. It revived her at once. Lord Nanjō Tokimitsu is not a high-ranking samurai but he is a devoted follower of Nichiren Shōnin. It would be better for him to pray to King Yama beseeching for help just this once, though it might be his karma from his previous life. As a way of curing his illness, please get a cup of pure water from the Shōjin River between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m., write down the 28 character passage of the “Medicine King Bodhisattva” chapter on a piece of paper and burn it. Then, please mix the ashes in the water and have him drink it.

Hōkikō Gobō Shōsoku, Letter to Nikkō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Pages 209-210

I offer this concluding letter from Volume 5 as an addendum to Day 47 of 100, in which I relate Ven. Kenjo Igarashi‘s explanation of why Nichiren’s letters didn’t survive.

As explained in the Introduction:

The “Hōkikō Gobō Shōsoku” is a letter written by Nichirō by order of Nichiren and it is addressed to Nikkō. It is dated on the 25th day of the second month without the year, but the marginal remark, “fifth year of Kōan” made by Nikkō makes it clear it was in the year 1282 when it was received. [Nichiren died less than five months later on Oct. 13, 1282.] When Nichiren heard that Nanjō Tokimitsu was severely ill, he instructed Nichirō to write a letter to Nikkō, informing him how to make a charm (gofu) to help Tokimitsu regain his health.

Setting aside the question of whether or not 28 Chinese characters from the Lotus Sūtra can effect a miraculous cure, there is no question that, “Just as a torch dispels darkness, this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma saves all living beings from all sufferings, from all diseases, and from all the bonds of birth and death. The merits to be given to the person who, after hearing this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, copies it, or causes others to copy it, cannot be measured even by the wisdom of the Buddha.” (Chapter 23: The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.)

As the will of the Buddha, no sūtra is superior to the Nirvana Sūtra. Seven kinds of people are enumerated in this sūtra. The first are people called icchantika, who are unable to get out of the ocean of life and death just as a huge rock thrown into the ocean. It is too heavy to float in the water and remains at the bottom of the sea forever; they are eternally drowned.

The second kind of people are those who are able to float in the water only momentarily. They have the power of floating in the water, but they cannot stay above the water because they have not learned how to keep floating. They are not icchantika but similar; they, too, are eternally drowned.

The third group of people are able to stay in the river of life and death without ever drowning. They are at the rank of śrāvaka such as Śāriputra. The fourth are the people who learned how to float in the water but did not find the way out of the water. The fifth are those who can stay above the water to look around, but got scared, and quit.

The sixth kind of people are those who float in the water, are afraid of pirates in the distance as well as nearby, and decide to stay in a shallow place. The seventh group of people are those who have reached the other shore, where they enjoy great pleasure without fear. Those of the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh groups refer to pratyekabuddha and bodhisattvas.

Jōren-bō Gosho, A Letter to Jōren-bō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 168

Imagine learning to float but getting scared and quitting, or worse staying in shallow waters for fear of pirates. Only with the Lotus Sūtra can the rock float to the other side.

Thinking over these matters, I begin to dream while resting on my meditation cushion. Awakened by a deer crying for his mate, I realize that within me the moon of “the unity of the triple truth” and “threefold contemplation in a single thought” has been shining brightly all along, but because the moon was covered by the clouds of deep ignorance I have suffered through the cycle of birth and death in the nine realms until today. My present realization is:

Even the clouds of ignorance
That spread over us
Would be dispersed
By the winds of Mt. Sacred Eagle
Filled with the sound of the Sacred Dharma.

Minobu-san Gosho, Mt. Minobu Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 131

I saved this to mark to half-way point in my 100 Days of Study.

In the past, the Buddha, wishing to repay his debt to his mother Māyā, ascended to the Trāyastriṃsá Heaven on the fifteenth day of the fourth month. While he was there, everyone in the five regions of India from the rulers and their great vassals down to the ordinary men and women, sobbed with grief and lamented that they had lost the Buddha, like parents who had lost a child or a child who had lost his parents. For a man to be separated from a beloved wife or a woman from her beloved husband is unbearable. How much more unbearable a separation from the World Honored One of Great Enlightenment with the thirty-two marks and eighty signs, whose color is a beautiful purple-gold, and whose voice is that of the kalaviṅka bird, and who teaches that all sentient beings will attain Buddhahood. Because of the Buddha’s deep loving-kindness and compassion, their longing and grief for Him is indescribable. It exceeded the grief of the beautiful lady imprisoned in the Shang-yang Palace; it exceeded the grief of the two daughters of Emperor Yao, O-huang and Nu-ying, when they were parted from Emperor Shun; and it exceeded the longing of Su Wu, banished for nineteen years to live amidst the snow in a foreign land.

A man who longed to see the Buddha took wood to make an image of Him, but he was unable to carve the likeness of even one of the thirty-two marks of the Buddha. At that time the great King Udayāna summoned Viśvakarman, the Carpenter, down from the Trāyastriṃsá Heaven and had a statue carved from red sandalwood. That statue went to meet the original Buddha in the Trāyastriṃsá Heaven, because of King Udayāna’s deep faith. This was the first statue of the Buddha carved in Jambudvipa.

Again, there was a wealthy man called Sudatta. When the Buddha was to descend to India from the Trāyastriṃsá Heaven on the fifteenth of the seventh month, Sudatta wished to build a monastery, but he had no land on which to build. Prince Jeta, a son of King Prasenajit, owned a park called Jetavana, which was about 40 li wide. This park was such a sacred and peaceful place that if one were to bring in swords or knives, the weapons would suddenly break apart. When the wealthy man Sudatta asked for the park in which to build his monastery, the prince told him he would only sell it for the amount of gold it would take to cover the park 4 inches thick. Sudatta agreed to the terms, but the prince then said, “I was only joking. The park is not for sale.” Sudatta insisted, “The Son of Heaven can never be double-tongued. How could you lie, even for a moment?” and he told King Prasenajit what had happened. “Prince Jeta is the heir to the throne. How could he lie even in jest,” wondered the king. Prince Jeta had no choice but to sell the park. Then, when the wealthy man Sudatta paid for the park with gold piled four inches thick as promised and joyfully prepared to build the monastery, Śāriputra appeared with a rope to demarcate the grounds of the park. Then he looked up into the sky and laughed. Sudatta remarked, “A great sage always has a dignified bearing and maintains self-control. What strange thing have you seen to cause you to laugh?” Śāriputra replied, “Because of this monastery you are building the six heavens of the realm of desire are each raising armies to contend for you. Each of the gods wants the person who is cultivating such a tremendously good deed in his own heaven. I am laughing at them for fighting. When your life-span is over, you will be born in the Tuṣita Heaven.” Thus the monastery was built and named the Jeta Grove Monastery.

On the night of the fifteenth of the seventh month when the Buddha was about to enter the temple, Indra and the King of the Brahma Heaven built three bridges made of gold, silver, and crystal from the Trāyastriṃsá Heaven. The Buddha entered by the middle bridge, while Indra on his left and the King of the Brahma Heaven on his right held a canopy over the Buddha. Behind the Buddha came the four categories of Buddhists (monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen); the eight kinds of supernatural beings (gods, asura, dragons, gandharva, kiṃnara, garuda, mahoraga, and yakṣa); twelve hundred arhats led by Kāśyapa, Kātyāyana, Maudgalyāyana, and Subhūti; twelve thousand hearers; and eighty thousand bodhisattvas.

All the people of the five regions of India gathered together to collect oil to offer lamps. Some lit ten thousand lamps, some lit one thousand lamps, some lit one hundred lamps, and some could only light one lamp. Among them was an impoverished woman, incomparably poor. She had no clothes except a mat woven of wisteria vines even coarser than a rush mat. She ran about in all four directions but was not able to get enough money to buy enough oil for even a single lamp. She looked up to the sky and cried, thinking that if her tears had been oil they could have fueled one hundred or one thousand or ten thousand lamps or more.

After much thought, she cut off her own hair, and braided it into a wig that she sold to buy oil for a single lamp. Perhaps because her devotion was accepted by the Buddha and gods, the three treasures, the heavenly deities, and the terrestrial deities, her lamp alone was not extinguished by the fierce winds that blow at the destruction of the world and the beginning of a new world cycle, and it lit the way as the Buddha entered the Jeta Grove Monastery.

As you see, even if people are rich and give great treasures as alms, if their faith is weak they cannot attain Buddhahood. Even though people are poor, if they have strong faith and deep determination they will attain Buddhahood without fail.

Minobu-san Gosho, Mt. Minobu Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Pages 129-131

I apologize for the length of this excerpt but I couldn’t bring myself to chop such a beautiful story into pithy greeting-card quotes.

Fascicle four of the Annotations on the Great Concentration and Insight says: Long ago in the great country Bima, a fox pursued by a lion tried to escape but fell into a dry well. The lion leapt over the well and ran on, but when the fox tried to climb out it couldn’t because the well was too deep. Many days passed and the fox was close to starving to death. At that time the fox cried out: “Woe is me! I am going to die miserably in this dry well. All things are impermanent. It would have been better if the lion had eaten me. Hail all the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten directions, with your wisdom see that my heart is pure and precious.” [Repeated in Japanese]

At that time, the god Indra heard the fox’s cry and came down himself to lift the fox from the well and ask it to teach the Dharma. “This is all wrong,” said the fox. “The disciple is on top and the teacher is on the bottom.” All in the heavens laughed to hear this. When Indra, acknowledging that the fox was correct, nevertheless sat at his feet and asked him to preach, the fox said, “This is all wrong. It is not right for disciple and teacher to sit down together.” Thereupon Indra took all the heavenly robes and piled them up to make a tall seat for the fox, and again asked him to preach the Dharma. The fox said: “There are those who rejoice to live and hate death. There are those who rejoice to die and hate life.” Ignorant people are ignorant regarding future lives and so they hope to live and hate death. Good people know the truth of the workings of karma and retribution and so they hope to die and hate life. Indra learned this and followed the fox as his teacher. The Grand Master T’ien-t’ai said: “The Young Ascetic in the Snow Mountains offered himself to a demon to gain half a verse, Indra revered an animal and made him his teacher. No one discards gold because the purse stinks.” No matter how humble, if someone knows the True Dharma, you must not look down on them. Fascicle 8 of the Lotus Sūtra says: “Those who, upon seeing the keeper of this sūtra, blame him justly or unjustly, will suffer from white leprosy in their present life.” This means that if one accuses the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra of faults, whether one is justified or not, one will contract white leprosy in this life and in the next life will fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering.

Minobu-san Gosho, Mt. Minobu Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 128

And I underscore, No matter how humble, if someone knows the True Dharma, you must not look down on them.

Introduction
This letter is dated on the 13th day of the 5th month without any mention of the year of writing, but it is thought that it was written in the second year of Kōan (1279). The final page of the original manuscript exists in the Jōsenji Temple in Tokyo. Nichiren makes a strong plea in the letter, but its meaning is not entirely clear as the preceding part of the document is unavailable.

A Letter of a Matter of Importance

(heretofore missing) Please speak earnestly. This is a matter of importance to me, Nichiren.

On the 13th day of the fifth month

Nichiren (signature)

Above I’ve reproduced the entirety of page 116 of Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5. I’m using the Ichidaiji Gosho as an example to illustrate Ven. Kenjo Igarashi’s explanation of why so many of Nichiren’s letters are in pieces (like the one above) or are disputed as forgeries.

Rev. Igarashi offered this explanation during the Sacarmento Nichiren Buddhist Church service April 8. The subject of Nichiren Shōnin’s letters came up in the context of Rev. Igarashi’s studies after talking his original vow to become a monk 50 years ago on April 28, 1968. I’m paraphrasing and rearranging things a bit.

During the Edo Period (between 1603 and 1868), Nichiren’s letters were thought to have medicinal value. It was widely believed that Nichiren was able to extend the life of his mother several years by writing out the entire Lotus Sūtra, burning the pages and having his mother drink the ashes from a glass of water. As a result, people who were seriously ill would take small clippings from Nichiren’s letters, burn them and drink the ashes. The market for Nichiren’s letters exploded, making them extremely expensive, which in turn attracted opportunistic forgers to meet the demand.

(For another view of medicinal value of the Lotus Sūtra, see Day 52 of 100.)
100 Days of Study

This letter was written in 1277 by Nichiren on behalf of Shinjō Yorimoto and submitted to the lord of the Ema family, for whom Shinjō Yorimoto worked. At this point Yorimoto is recalling what Sammi-kō, a disciple of Nichiren, said in debate with Ryūzō-bō, a priest from Mt. Hiei:

“Master Shan-tao of the Pure Land Sect in China said that ten out of ten or 100 out of 100 of those who practice the nembutsu will be able to be reborn in the Pure Land through the power of the original vow of Amitābha Buddha, but not even one out of one thousand persons who practice the holy way gate such as the Lotus Sūtra will be able to attain Buddhahood. Priest Hōnen of the Pure Land Sect in Japan urged his followers to abandon, close, set aside, and cast away the Lotus Sūtra, the holy way gate, calling the practicers of the holy way gate a school of bandits. Zen Sect insists that Śākyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment is transmitted to practicers only through the mind (special transmission without scriptures or preachings) and therefore sūtras are needless.

“The Buddha Śākyamuni, however, states in the Lotus Sūtra: ‘I will reveal the Truth after an extensive period of preaching.’ The Buddha of Many Treasures also verified that ‘The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma is entirely true,’ and the Buddhas manifested in the worlds throughout the universe also testify to the truth of the Lotus Sūtra. Which should we believe between the two: Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures and the Buddhas manifested in the worlds throughout the universe who prove the truth of the Lotus Sūtra, or Grand Master Kōbō of Japan who says that the Lotus Sūtra is a sūtra of no merit? Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, and the Buddhas manifested in the worlds throughout the universe preach that all without exception will attain Buddhahood through the Lotus Sūtra, but Master Shan-tao and Priest Hōnen said that no one could attain Buddhahood through the Lotus Sūtra, which we should abandon, close, set aside, and cast away. The teachings of Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, and the Buddhas in manifestation and those uttered by Master Shan-tao and Priest Hōnen are as different as fire and water or clouds and mud. Which should we put faith in? Which should we discard? …

To this question put forth by Sammi-kō, Ryūzō-bō replied: “How can I have any doubts about such senior masters as Shan-tao and Hōnen? The only thing that ordinary monks like myself can do is to pay respect and venerate them.”

Then, Sammi-kō asked again: “Such an answer does not sound like your teaching. Although everybody respects their senior masters or men of virtue, it is willed in the Nirvana Sūtra, preached last by the Buddha, ‘Rely on the dharma, not on masters.’ This means that since masters may have made mistakes, one should depend upon the sūtras the Buddha expounded.

Yorimoto Shinjō, Yorimoto’s Letter of Explanation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5,
Pages 101-102

Since I brought up the idea yesterday that “Nichiren frequently admonished listeners to focus on the Dharma, not the man,” I felt it useful to offer this example.

I am sorry to trouble you, but I would like to inform you of one thing in advance. This master, Nichiren Shōnin, is the one and only master of virtue and is a sagacious and irreplaceable person. If the worst should happen, you would surely be sorry. It is rather foolish for you not to believe in him just because the people in the world do not believe in him. When the rulers of Japan put faith in him, everyone will believe in him. It will be useless for you to believe in him then. Putting faith in him because the rulers of Japan believe in him means that you believe in a man, not the dharma. The people in the world think that children must obey their parents, retainers obey their lord, and disciples follow their masters, but this is a wrong idea held by those who know neither Buddhism nor non-Buddhist teachings. In the Filial Piety, a Confucian classic, it is stated that when a father makes a mistake, his son should remonstrate with him, and that when a lord makes a mistake, his retainer should admonish him. In Buddhism it is preached: “He who enters Buddhism, discarding the favors of his parents, is one who truly compensates the favors received from his parents.”

Prince Siddhārtha, who had become a monk against the wishes of His father, King Suddodana, became the Buddha to lead His parents to Buddhahood. In the end He became the most filial son in the world. Filial Pi-kan was killed for remonstrating his father, King Chou Hsin of the Yin Dynasty, and left behind the fame of being a man of wisdom. If you disregard what I say as words of a petty monk, I am sure you will regret it not only in the present life but also in the one to come.

Shimoyama Goshōsoku, The Shimoyama Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Page 60

As explained in the Introduction to this letter: “In the sixth month of the 3rd year of the Kenji era (1277), Nichiren Shōnin wrote a letter of explanation in place of Inaba-bō Nichiei, a disciple of Nichiren, and submitted it to Nichiei’s father, Shimoyama Hyōgo Gorō Mitsumoto. … Nichiei and his father had been devotees of the nembutsu. Nichiei, however, was converted by Nichiren on Mt. Minobu and became his disciple, abandoning the nembutsu piety. This letter is an explanation of his religious principle to his father, Mitsumoto.”

Underscored here for me is the idea that not believing in Nichiren because of what others say or believing in Nichiren only because of what others say “means that you believe in a man, not the dharma.” Nichiren frequently admonished listeners to focus on the Dharma, not the man. After all, it is the Dharma, not the man, that will lead you to enlightenment.

One interesting aspect of this volume of biographical letters is the insight into Nichiren’s life. For example, this story of how Nichiei first heard Nichiren:

In the summer of the eleventh year of the Bun’ei Era (1274), Nichiren Shōnin, who has recently become widely known in Japan, came to live in seclusion at the foot of an isolated mountain called Mt. Minobu located in the districts of Iino, Mimaki, and Hakii in the same province of Kai, to which Shimoyama also belongs. Even those of considerably high social standing are not allowed to listen to him preach except if they have special connections.

Having heard of a certain person seeing Nichiren, I sneaked into the backyard of his hermitage and hid myself. I did not intend to become a follower but wanted just to have a glance at how things were. I could roughly hear what he preached as he answered questions.

This lengthy letter included several notes that I’ll include here for future reference:

“Jigage” of the Lotus Sutra

The sixteenth chapter on the “Life Span of the Buddha” ends with a verse. As this verse begins with the phrase “ji-ga-toku-butsu-rai, ” it is called “jiga-ge (jiga verse).” This is the most important part of the Lotus Sūtra because it teaches us that Śākyamuni Buddha is original and eternal, and that He always shows His mercy to us. In its last stanza the Buddha utters:
I am always thinking:
“How shall I cause all living beings
To enter the unsurpassed way
And quickly become Buddhas?”

Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō

“Myōhōrengekyō” is the full title of the Lotus Sūtra, the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. With the word of “namu (I revere),” this phrase is called the daimoku, myōgendai, or gendai (wonderful title). Nichiren states in his “Shishin-gohon-shō,’ ” Myōhōrengekyō, which consists of the five Chinese characters, is neither a mere phrase nor a doctrine of the sūtra, but the soul of the Lotus Sūtra consisting of twenty-eight chapters.’ In his “Kanjin-hozon-shō ( A Treatise on the Spiritual Contemplation and Most Venerable One), Nichiren declares: “The gist of these passages is that Śākyamuni Buddha’s merit of practicing the bodhisattva way leading to Buddhahood, as well as that of preaching and saving all living beings since His attaining Buddhahood are altogether contained in the five words of myō, hō, ren, ge, and kyō (wonderful, dharma, lotus flower and sūtra); and that consequently, when we uphold these five words, the merits which He accumulated before and after His attainment of Buddhahood are naturally transferred to us.” It is believed by Nichiren Buddhists that chanting this sacred title or the daimoku is the only way to attain Buddhahood.

Original and Eternal Buddha

When Nichiren Buddhists adore Śākyamuni Buddha, they pray: “With reverence we adore the Buddha Śākyamuni, the Great Benefactor, the Original and Eternal Teacher who attained Buddhahood in the remotest past. (Manual of Nichiren Buddhism published by the Headquarters of the Nichiren Shū in July, 1995). Kuon-jitsujō or eternal and original: This phrase expresses that Śākyamuni Buddha has been enlightened in the eternal past as revealed in the 16th chapter of the Lotus Sūtra. According to this chapter the Buddha had already been enlightened an immeasurably long time ago, and Śākyamuni Buddha, who attained enlightenment at Buddhagayā, is merely a provisional manifestation of this Original and Eternal Buddha. This Buddha, however, is not different from the Buddha being adored at Buddhagayā. It is recommended for readers to read this chapter and some of Nichiren’s works. The Lotus Sūtra states that Śākyamuni Buddha was enlightened, not for the first time under the bodhi tree at Buddhagayā, but in the remotest past, which is usually called five hundred dust particle nayuta kalpa ago; since then He has shown mercy by taking various measures for saving beings with no discrimination.

As you know, I, Nichiren, have been eagerly studying since childhood and began praying when I was twelve years old to Bodhisattva Space Repository to help me to become the wisest in Japan. The reason for my prayers was complicated, too complicated to explain here in detail. Later I first began to study the doctrines of the Pure Land and Zen Sects. Then I studied the doctrines of the Tendai and Shingon Sects on Mt. Hiei, at the Onjōji Temple, and on Mt. Kōya. I further studied the doctrines of the various sects at temples in Kyoto and the provinces, but these studies did not serve to clear up the doubts I had in mind about Buddhism.

In my initial prayer I made a vow that: I would not favor any particular sect; I would adopt whichever sect that provided the evidence of being the teaching of the Buddha and was reasonable; I would be guided solely by the sūtras, not by the commentators in India, translators and minister-masters in China; I would not be afraid, regarding the doctrines of Buddhism, of even being punished by a king, not to mention persecutions by the people below him; I would not follow instructions against the Buddha’s teachings even if they were given by my parents, teacher and elder brother; and that I would speak up honestly as expounded in the sūtras regardless of whether or not people believed in me.

Ga Ryōkan-tō Gosho, A Letter Refuting Ryōkan-bō and Others, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Page 60

It is important to remember that Nichiren was not an ordinary priest. He made a great vow and even his detractors have to agree that he kept that vow.