Sense of indebtedness and fellowship

Nichiren had a keen sense of thankfulness for benefits of every kind, just as he never excused those who did him wrong. We have seen how he based his ethical theory on the three relations in human life, namely, the relation of a man to his lord, his master, and his parents, and how earnestly he desired to dedicate all his merits to his parents and friends, and even to his persecutors. We have also noted how he spoke of the men and women who supported him in the worst days of his banishment as if they were reincarnations of his own parents. Similarly, the letters written during his retirement are full of expressions of affectionate gratitude toward those who sent him food or clothing. To a nun who sent him a bag of seaweed, the sight of which made him homesick for his native place, he wrote:

“When I had nearly forgotten my native place, these seaweeds you kindly sent me awakened in me yearning memories of the familiar scenes of my boyhood. The weeds are like those I used to see in the waters of my native province, the same in color, form, taste, and smell. May it be that they have been sent by my dear parents? I cannot help thinking so, foolish as it may seem.”

In short, everyone who nourishes him, the man who is living for the sake of the Truth, is father or mother, and is thus contributing to the Buddhist cause. In this way his sense of personal indebtedness was always combined with the consciousness of his high mission; there was nothing in his life that did not present itself in these two aspects – the immediate benefits, and the eternal cause; all practiced in the communion of the believers.

The close union of religion and ethics was a characteristic feature in Nichiren’s thought and life, and it appears in a harmonious combination of his human sentiments with his religious aspirations. An episode in these years of retirement may serve as an illustration of this union. As has been mentioned in connection with Nichiren’s execution, one of his warrior disciples, Shijō Kingo, was always a great favorite of Nichiren. In the sixth month of 1277, Kingo was slandered to his lord by religious opponents. Nichiren wrote to his disciple, admonishing him never to waver in his faith on account of the accusation, and composed for him a defense to be presented to his lord. The lord remained inflexible, and Kingo was finally deprived of his position and emoluments; yet the faithful warrior not only remained steadfast in his religion but continued to show admirable fidelity to the lord who had done him injustice. This fidelity made such an impression on his lord that in the following year he restored Kingo to his former position.

All Nichiren’s letters about this affair, especially the last ones, expressing his great joy at hearing of Kingo’s restoration, exhibit his affection for his disciples, as well as the way in which he counselled and encouraged them. The most touching of these letters is that which was written after Kingo’s visit at Minobu, whither he had come to express his gratitude to the spiritual father after the lord had reinstated him. Nichiren had been anxious about Kingo’s return journey to Kamakura, fearing that his enemies might attempt his life on the way through mountain-passes. News had now come of his safe arrival, and Nichiren rejoiced at the tidings, but advised continued caution.

“When you left me here to go back, my soul almost died in me; and now I hear of your return to Kamakura without any danger. What a joy and relief it is to me! I was so anxious about you that I asked everybody that came from along your route. My anxiety was relieved, step by step, when I was told that you had been seen at Yumoto, then at Kōzu, and at last at Kamakura. Hereafter, you must not come over here, unless on urgent business. If you have anything to consult me about, send a messenger! Indeed, your coming here the last time caused me too much anxiety; think of my concern about you!

“Commonly, your enemies have their eye on you when you are beginning to forget them. If you should hereafter go on a journey, never leave your horse behind you! Select your retainers and furnish them with armor! You yourself must go on horseback.

“It is said, ‘The protection of the gods is given to those who are strong and prepared.’ The Lotus of Truth is a sharp sword, but its effectiveness rests with the one who uses it. … Therefore, be strong and discipline your mind! … If your faith in the Lotus of Truth be firm and strong, all perils will vanish before it. Thus thinking, be steadfast in your faith!”

One month before this visit, when Nichiren was informed of Kingo’s restoration, he wrote him a letter of encouragement, which well shows how human sentiment and religious aspiration were connected in Nichiren’s mind.

“He who endures constant persecutions, in the beginning, in the middle, and to the end, is the messenger of the Tathāgata. I, Nichiren, am not quite the messenger of the Tathāgata, for I am a common man. Yet something like the messenger am I, who have twice been exiled on account of the hatred of the three classes of my opponents. I am something like the messenger, because my mouth utters the Sacred Title of the Lotus, although, for my person, I am just a common mortal, inflamed by the three kinds of passions. To seek a parallel in the past, I am like the Bodhisattva Sadāparibhūta; and in my present life are being fulfilled the prophecies about the one who should suffer from sticks, and swords, and stones. Can I, then, entertain any doubt about the fulfilment of the promise of being taken to the Holy Place? How, then, shall not those who are nourishing me (like you) enjoy the communion of the Land of Purity?”

Thus, all those who live in communion, united by the Adoration of the Lotus of Truth [Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō], are fellows of the universal and eternal fraternity. Within the communion, however, there are relations of parents and children, of master and disciples – the aspects of human life which remain through eternity, as in the case of the primeval Buddha and his disciples, and similarly in that of the prophet and his followers. Yet this relation does not mean mere subordination on the part of the disciples, but gratitude, and its fruit, the perpetuation of the truth transmitted and committed to them. This idea has already come out in the relations between Buddha and other beings, when we were considering Nichiren’s conception of the Supreme Being. Applied to the fellowship of believers in the Buddhist Church, the same kind of reciprocity of benefaction and gratitude, of entrusting and perpetuation, exists between Nichiren and his followers forever. Consequently, the Church is the organ for perpetuating Nichiren’s ideals through the efforts of his followers. Seen in this light, every quickening and inspiring legacy of thought left to his disciples was Nichiren’s preparation for the future establishment of the Holy See; and he believed that the approaching Mongol invasion would hasten the realization of his ideal, which was to come about through the repentance and conversion of the Japanese people.

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Dedication of good to fellow-beings

To the end of his life, Nichiren never ceased to express these convictions in the strongest terms; but his faith in the destiny of Japan was in no way shaken, nor his self-confidence. On the contrary, the dangers threatening the country and the consternation of the people only strengthened his belief in his great cause and in his own mission. In one of the writings from his years of retirement, he says:

“So far as, and so much as, my – Nichiren’s – compassion is vast and comprehensive, the Adoration of the Lotus of the Perfect Truth shall prevail beyond the coming ages of ten thousand years, nay, eternally in the future. This is the merit I have achieved, which is destined to open the blind eyes of all beings in Japan (the world), and to shut off the ways to the nethermost Avici hell. These merits surpass those of Dengyō and T’ien T’ai, and are far beyond those of Nāgārjuna and Kāśyapa. Is it not true that one hundred years’ training in a heavenly paradise does not compare with one day’s work in the earthly world, and that all service done to the Truth during the two thousand years of the ages of the Perfect Law and the Copied Law is inferior to that done in one span of time in the ages of the Latter Law? All these differences are due, not to Nichiren’s own wisdom, but to the virtues inherent in the times. Flowers bloom in spring, and fruits are ripe in autumn; it is hot in summer, and cold in winter. Is it not time that makes these differences? Buddha announced, “This Truth shall be proclaimed and perpetuated in the whole Jambudvīpa, in the fifth five hundred years after my death; and it will avail to save all kinds of devils and demons, celestial beings and serpent tribes,” etc. If this prediction should not be fulfilled, all other prophecies and assurances will prove false, the Lord Śākyamuni will fall to the Avici hell, the Buddha Prabhūtaratna will be burned in the infernal fires, while all other Buddhas in the ten quarters will transfer their abodes to the eight great hells, and all Bodhisattvas will suffer from pains, one hundred and thirty-six in kind. How should all this be possible? If it is not, the whole of Japan (the world) will surely be converted to the Adoration of the Lotus of the Perfect Truth.

“Flowers finally return to the root, and the essence abides in the earth. Let all these merits be dedicated to the soul of the deceased master Dōzen (who had once instructed Nichiren, and is the earth which had nourished Nichiren’s wisdom). Adoration be to the Lotus of the Perfect Truth!”

This letter illustrates Nichiren’s idea that his best attainment should be dedicated to all those to whom he was in any way indebted. But he regarded any such dedication as vain, unless associated with, and practised as a part of, the highest ideal of his religion, the establishment of the Three Great Mysteries. Thus, preceding this conclusion, he reaffirms his own mission to achieve that great task, and expresses his confidence in the approaching fulfilment of his ideal.

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The curse and the sense of sinfulness, individual and national

Although he saw in the coming Mongol invasion an agency working for his cause, the final burden of converting the nation was laid upon him. He thus inseparably linked the threatening danger with his idea of the future of Japan as well as with his own expiation – the remorseful expiation of his sin of not having thus far accomplished all that he was set to do for the Unique Truth.

The sense of sin lay heavy upon Nichiren’s mind, in view of the approaching danger. Japan would certainly suffer from the invaders, as the western islands had been devastated. Was not this because the nation still remained blind to the true Buddhism? Was not he himself chiefly or solely responsible for its blindness? Would not all these perils have been averted, if he had established the Holy See? “All the sufferings that befall my fellow-beings are, after all, my own sufferings.” This was his great remorse, caused by the sense of his own sinfulness as well as by concern for his countrymen. His curse was not a product of mere self-righteousness nor of mere hatred of others, but an expression of his deep regret for his country and of his own ideal. There was always, for him, a link between the present danger and the future destiny, between the nation’s curse and his own expiation; and this connection was a result of his view of the inseparable tie uniting the individual to the community in which he lives. We have already touched on this point, in discussing Nichiren’s ideas about the meaning of the community in human life and in religion. Now, in his grave concern about the threatening invasion, this thought found emphatic expression. A letter which he wrote to a warrior follower, in 1280, is particularly instructive. After dwelling much on the offence committed by the nation against the Lotus of Truth, he goes on to show how his sufferings were a part of his mission, while he himself cannot but be responsible for the people’s folly and their calamities. The individual is never apart from his family and nation; how much more then, must the leader of the nation, the spiritual father of the coming ages, regret and hate his people’s folly and suffering! Further, he says:

“While Japan is being threatened by the attacks of the Great Mongols, its people are having recourse to the mysteries which are doomed to perish (the Shingon rituals). Are not the ominous records (of their failures) plain in many previous cases? How can a man who knows this remain indifferent to the fact? How sad it is that we have to encounter great calamities, having been born in a country offending and degrading truth and righteousness! Even if we could be personally acquitted of the sin of degrading the truth, how could we be freed from the responsibility for the offense committed by our families and country? If you would be exempt from the offense committed by your family, endeavor to convert your parents and brothers and sisters! The issue will be either that you will be hated by them, or that you will finally convert them all. If you would be free from the offence committed by the country as a whole, make remonstrance to the rulers, and be yourself prepared for death or exile! Is it not said in the [Lotus Sutra], ‘Never shrink from sacrificing the body for the sake of the Incomparable Way’? This is explained (by a commentator) as follows: ‘Insignificant is the bodily life compared with the grave and important cause of the Truth; therefore strive to perpetuate the Truth even at the sacrifice of the body!’ That we have, from the remotest past down to the present, not attained Buddhahood, is simply due to our cowardice, in that we have always been afraid of these perils and have not dared to stand up publicly for the Truth. The future will never be otherwise, so long as we remain cowards. All this is deeply impressed upon me by my personal experience.

“Even among my followers there are those who dare not to proclaim the Truth, but are content with personal faith alone, and even some who desert the cause, all because they are afraid of the dangers, and care too much for the bodily life, which is, in fact, as evanescent as the dew. Indeed, as is said in the [Lotus Sutra], ‘difficult to believe and hard to grasp’ is the Truth, and I know by my own experience how difficult it is to live the life of the Truth. Traitors are as innumerable as the dust of the earth in all the world, while real believers are as rare as motes on the fingernails. The offenders are like the waters of the ocean, while the defenders are only but a few drops of water.

“Those who remain silent before the opponents of the Lotus of Truth … will surely sink to the nethermost hells. Men who, being cognizant of a treasonable plot, do not inform the rulers, are traitors, even if they themselves were not involved in the plot. … Remonstrances were made by me, Nichiren, because I knew this truth. A sentence of death, and repeated banishment, were the consequence. Seven years have now passed since I retired among these mountains, wishing to be redeemed from sins, and freed from offences.”

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